Testing Boundaries
by amsanch
Summary: Rogue left to learn to control her powers. Five years later she returns a different person. Has Remy moved on like she feared?  Will he be willing to forgive her for leaving? Other character appearances as well. Story will be rated M for later chapters. ROMY
1. 5 Years Earlier

**Hello everyone! Well this is my first attempt at writing a fanfic, so be gentle! However, I am open to any suggestions to help better my writing skills. Well I don't really know what else to say sooooo… on with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: I am sure you guys know that I do not own any of the X men characters, or any marvel characters for that matter. Which sucks because if I did, well…. that would be awesome!**

**So in my story, some things are going to be out of place and time frame. This is my own input and creation. I will use a mixture of events from the comics and the shows…so basically what I am trying to say, is that my story is going to be a jumbled mess. Oh, and just so everyone knows… I am ****horrible ****at writing accents, so I excluded them from my story. I know everyone has an active imagination, so use it! I will do my best on grammar and punctuation. I don't have anyone to help with that, so bear with me please! **

**Chapter 1**

**5 Years Earlier**

"I wish you wouldn't look at me like that." They had been through this already. He just didn't understand. None of them did.

"I wish you would tell me why you're leaving."

She hated when he would counter her response with a stupid comment. He knew exactly why she was leaving.

"Logan, I already told you why. Ms. Frost has offered me an opportunity that I can't pass up! She needs help at her school, and if I help her she will work with me …. help me gain control of my powers! I just graduated high school; I'm not a kid anymore. Why can't you understand?"

Her back was turned to him as she packed her last belongings. She did another scan about the bare room to see if she forgot anything. It was weird seeing her side of the room empty like this. Her band posters were down, and her deep purple comforter was gone, leaving the bed looking lifeless and original. She had to admit that she had grown fond of the place. This was her home, why was she leaving? _Oh yeah…because of HIM._

She shunned the day that damn Cajun walked through those damn doors. Why did he have to be so charming? So attractive? He had everyone wrapped around his finger after a week, that is everyone besides her and Logan. She saw right through his act, and because of that, she got to know the real Gambit. The real Remy. The person that had flaws like everyone else. The person that escaped to the roof, like she often did, when he was feeling overwhelmed or stressed. The person that had insecurities about his past and who he was, and who he would become. She fell in love with that person, which was why she had to leave.

How had she allowed herself to get close enough to care? She knew that he was a ladies man. And to make things worse, he was the closest thing she had to a best friend. She was stupid to think that anything would happen. It was physically impossible. No guy in their right state of mind would stay faithful to a woman that they couldn't touch. It was childish and unrealistic of her to get her hopes up.

That was why she had to go. The thought of him moving on killed her inside. And she would be damned if she were one of those pathetic chicks, that moped around with blood shot eyes, eating ice-cream buy the bucket loads, waiting for the phone to ring just so they could hear the voice of their ex. Ex? He was never hers, and never would be.

"Stripes, the professor can still help you. You just have to give it more time –"

"More time Logan? Are you serious right now? I have been in the mansion for a while, and I am nowhere closer to controlling my powers now than the day I got here! I have to go, I just have to!"

She turned around, to look at the man that was the closet thing to a father figure that she probably would ever have. She could feel the dampness in her eyes starting to swell; threatening to overflow and spill on her porcelain cheeks. She hated the fact that she was leaving her friends, her family….but she had to go to progress. If she stayed here, she would be labeled the untouchable leech forever.

Logan could see that the gothic girl in front of him was about to shed her hard exterior. He loved the fact that she felt comfortable enough around him to let her guard down, but he didn't want her to feel embarrassed.

"Ok kid, I give, but I still think you should wait for the others to return from their mission."

She looked so sad. He hated to see her like this. He knew she wanted to go to the Massachusetts Academy to get help with her powers, but he also knew that wasn't the only reason. He knew she was also leaving because of Gambit. He could smell the lust fuming off of her when she was around him.

"They knew I was leaving, if they wanted to see me off so bad, they should have stayed." She new she sounded full of self-pity, but at this point she could care less.

"They knew you were leaving Rogue, but they didn't know you were leaving today. You know what I think? I think that you want them to be gone, because if they were here, you know that they would talk you out of leaving."

She stared at her mentor and narrowed her eyes, debating on whether to scream at him or punch him. She decided against both and sagged her shoulders in defeat.

"You're right. I don't want to be weak and start to cry during the goodbyes. I don't want them to tell me to stay, because if they do, I might change my mind."

He was startled by her reply. The last thing he thought she would do, was agree with him.

"Alright kid. I'll help you load up your things. Just curious, why can't we contact you again?"

She handed her suitcase to him when she answered.

"Because Ms. Frost thinks that my emotions are tying me down. She says that if I keep in contact with you guys, it could possibly slow down the control therapy process, or something like that."

She gave the room one final glance before she left. She looked at Logan, who was already half way down the stairs. She could see the sadness in his face, although he would deny it.

"Don't worry Wolvie, I'll be back before you know it."

He smiled at her concern for him.

"We will miss ya, but take your time. Just promise me you will brush up on your fighting skills once in a while. Lord knows ya need it." And with that he gave her a wink, and headed outside to load up her belongings.

There was one more thing she had to do before she left. She walked up to Remy's door. She already knew it would be locked, so she didn't even bother turning the handle. She simply slid the letter she had written earlier under his door, and hurriedly ran down the stairs and out the door, where Logan would see her off.

**To Be Continued…**

**Ok so far? Any ideas or suggestions, let me know. Also, feel free to review.**


	2. 5 years Later

**Well I'm Back! I have to admit that when I saw that I had 3 reviews, I almost peed my pants. Thanks to nellybell515 for being the first. I did try to make this chapter longer for ya. And of course honorable mentions will go to spark187 and KInasha14. Thanks for the kind words. You guys rock! ;)**

**Disclaimer: Again, I do not own any marvel characters. *Tear***

**Chapter 2**

**5 years later**

She stood outside of the mansion's iron gates. She forgot how beautiful this place was. The last time she was here seemed like a lifetime ago. She should have called them as soon as it happened, to let them know that she would be coming home. She should have listened to her gut instincts, telling her that it was wrong not to keep in touch with her friends, her family. She should have done so many things differently…

"Miss? I ain't got all day." She had forgotten that the cab driver was still waiting to be paid his dues.

She turned to look at the small, round man. She could snap him in half if she wanted to. He wouldn't even have a chance to blink before she could end his miserable life...

She shook the thought out of her head.

She handed, more like threw, the money in the taxi drivers direction. She didn't feel bad; he hadn't exactly been friendly during the ride.

The man grabbed his money and shut the door, not before saying, "Damn mutant freak!" and driving off to who the hell knows where.

She turned her attention back towards the mansion. She felt like she was going to vomit. Would they accept her after they found out what she had done? Would HE ever forgive her? She should have thought her plan out more thoroughly. She knew the decision was rash, but she needed to go back home. Back to normal…well as normal as a mansion full of mutants can be.

If it weren't for that stupid bitch Emma Frost, she could have found her place in the mansion and would have had a whole different life. She finally got the one thing she always wanted. Control. She would give it all back if she could. _Oh well. Too late now._

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, going unwillingly to that dreaded night in her mind…

_**Flashback**_

_***1 Month ago***_

_She had never been so happy in her life. Everything was perfect. She finally had control. None of that half way concentration crap, but 100% control. She was on cloud nine._

_Emma kept up her end of the deal. She came though for her, just like she said she would. Now she would finally be able to go home after the semester was over._

_To help out Ms. Frost, she had taught the mechanics class. She had always loved working on bikes and cars, thanks to Logan, so the position was perfect. When she first arrived at the school, she had her doubts. Even though it was another school for mutants, it lacked the warm feeling that the Xavier Institute had. It seemed that the students here were constantly bickering and trying to compete._

_However, it didn't take long for her to get into gear (literally). She actually started to like it. _

_She had sessions with Emma three times a week. They typically would last about 2 hours, and she would usually end up leaving feeing hopeless. _

_That had all changed recently. Emma went deep into her mind, and BAM! Instant control. Emma herself even seemed shocked._

"_Rogue, I do not know how you have gained control so quickly. I wanted to work at this in steps, I didn't want you to become overwhelmed."_

_Rogue couldn't help but laugh._

"_Emma, I am 23 years old and have never really kissed a guy, the quicker you help me out, the better."_

_Emma couldn't help but smile. She had grown quite attached to the girl. She was never the type to have friends that were women. Most women were too jealous of her. They couldn't stand that not only did she have the looks, but she had the brains as well. She wasn't just another used up blonde bimbo. The thing about Rogue, was that she never thought negatively of her. And she was a telepath, so she would know._

"_This is what I believed happened. Your powers never got the chance to fully manifest. When you kissed that boy-"_

_Emma hesitated to see Rogue's reaction. She knew it was a sore topic. Rogue seemed ok so she continued._

"_-you unintentionally hindered your powers. The more people you absorbed, the more walls you put up in your mind. I only tore down a few. I estimated that it would at least have been another year, and I am hardly ever wrong."_

_Rogue nodded her head. She was staring down at her hands. Her hands that were no longer poison. Her hands could touch...SHE could touch._

_She looked back up at Emma. "So what does this mean?"_

_Emma had a smile that could barely be contained on her face._

"_It means that you, my friend, might be a class 5 mutant."_

_Rogue's eyes widened in shock. "How do you figure?"_

_Emma was expecting that question. "Well, the way I see it, is that realistically it took a short amount of time for you to have full control. Just imagine what type of power you will have when we take down all the walls! You may even have some hidden mutation that we don't know about yet!"_

_It was hard for Emma to control her excitement. She had struck gold by bringing the girl to her school._

"_Emma I appreciate everything you have done for me, I really do, but I don't care about all the 'could possibly be there' powers. I'm so happy with the way everything is now. I really just want to go back to Xavier's."_

_Rogue could see the anger flash in Emma's ice blue eyes._

" _Oh I see, how silly of me. Here I was thinking that we were friends, and the first thing you say to me after my years of commitment is 'I am leaving'. How disappointing."_

_Emma knew that the southerner was too kind hearted, and she was going to use that to her advantage. She needed the girl to stay just one more night._

_Rogue instantly felt guilty._

"_I'm sorry Emma, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to go there to check in with everyone. I miss them so much!"_

_Rogue blushed at the thought of seeing a certain Cajun again._

"_I will finish teaching this semester. And who knows, I may still come back to help you next semester. I can just stay there during summer break or something…but for right now I just want to have a quick weekend visit, just to see how everyone is."_

_By saying everyone, she meant Remy. She had fantasized about this moment forever. She was going to tell him that she still loved him, and he would confess that he loved her as well, and they would spend all night together showing their love to each other._

_Of course, that was a fantasy. In reality, she left a hand written letter with him, shoved under his door. In that letter she did confess her feeling for him, but she had no idea if he felt the same._

_Emma, being a telepath, was of course listening to Rogue's personal thoughts._

"_Fine. But could you at least wait till next weekend to visit? Mid terms are coming up, and I simply cannot spare you."_

_Rogue shook her head enthusiastically._

"_Of course! That is not a problem! Thank you for understanding, Emma."_

_Emma felt an unusual pang of guilt in her chest._

"_Think nothing of it. I do have a favor to ask of you though."_

_Rogue nodded. "Anything! What do you need?"_

"_There is this formal dinner party this evening. Since you and I have become such good friends, I would love for you to join me. We can officially celebrate your control."_

_Rogue grinned. Besides one lame high school dance, she had never been to a formal occasion as an adult._

"_Really? I don't know what to say! Thank you so much!" She thought for a moment. "I don't really have anything to wear though…"_

_Emma dismissed the comment with her hand._

"_That has already been taken care of. The dress is already laid out on your bed by now, along with proper shoes and some jewelry."_

_Rogue opened her mouth to protest. "Emma I can't accept that-"_

"_Of course you can. Just think of it as a going away present."_

_Rogue grinned. "Thank you for everything, I mean it."_

_Emma rolled her eyes. "Please don't get sappy on me now. Just make sure to be ready at 7 p.m. sharp."_

_Rogue got up and tried to control the urge to sprint to her room._

_Emma felt guilty, which was out of her character. The girl would hate her after tonight._

_**Later that evening…**_

_She looked at herself in he full-length mirror. She had come a long way from that gothic girl she used to be. Her hair was much longer now, almost halfway down her back. She still had her signature white streaks surrounding her face, but her hair now had a slight curl to it. She was more fit, thanks to Emma's boot camp- like training. She had also filled out in the "proper" areas. The dark make up was replaced with neutral tones, and natural long, dark eyelashes were revealed. She would occasionally put lipstick on her naturally rose colored lips. Her skin tone was slightly darker, like it had been kissed by the sun. Not exactly tan, but not porcelain like she was before._

_The dress that Emma gave her was a simple, yet elegant black dress. It showed just the right amount of cleavage, and was a little too short, in Rogue's opinion. The shoes were open toed and had a high heel on them, accentuating her already long legs. Her ensemble was completed with some teardrop diamond earrings. She had to admit Emma knew what she was doing when it came to fashion._

_She waited for Emma in the foyer. When she showed up, she was wearing a dress that was similar to her own, only white. She had a stressed look on her face._

"_Sorry to keep you waiting. I just had to make some last minute arrangements."_

"_Is everything ok?" Rogue asked._

"_Yes. I just had to convince a very important guest to arrive at the party. Lets not worry about that now though. This is your night. The limo is parked out front. Lets go."_

_**A few hours later**_

_Rogue was really enjoying herself. She was getting a lot of attention from the men, especially a Mr. Sebastian Shaw. He was a little stuck up, but she had drunk a little too much to care. She was dancing! No gloves or boundaries. Just skin-to-skin contact. This was marvelous. Unfortunately, the night was coming to an end. Most of the guests were already gone. _

_Mr. Shaw took her naked hand._

"_Madame, would you please join me in another room?"_

_Rogue couldn't hide the look of disgust on her face._

_The man let out a chilling laugh. "I do not want you to join me for the reason you are thinking of. I already have 3 women waiting in my bedchambers. No, with you I need to discuss business."_

_She looked at him confused. "Business? Emma never mentioned anything about business."_

"_She did not because I asked her not to. Emma works for me, you see. And I would like to offer you a fantastic opportunity as well."_

_By this time they had already made their way into a very large room._

_Rogue looked about the room. She felt a sudden sharp pain in her neck. She felt dizzy…why did she feel dizzy?_

_The last thing she remembered as she was falling to the ground was the look on Emma's face. _

"_Rogue, please forgive me."_

_**XXX**_

_When she awoke, she found herself in a dark, dingy room with very high ceilings. It smelled of mildew and something else she couldn't quite name. Her head was throbbing. She quickly fell over and started to vomit._

_A voice came out of some hidden intercom system._

"_Ah my dear, I am so happy to see you are with us. You are in this containment unit for your own protection. You see, a little bird told me that you might be a class 5 mutant. And to be frank, I want you to be a member of our club. Not just any member, but a queen."_

_Rogue wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked up and shouted hoping he could hear her. "There is no way in hell that I would be part of your club!"_

_A cruel laugh was his reply. "Such anger and hostility! You will make a great addition. We are members of the Hellfire Club. And you will join. We must have you. Our Emma here can control your mind, so you have no say in the matter. We just need to speed up the process of you obtaining your maximum power. I have brought in a guest to help us out. You may remember Ms. Frost making arrangements by phone to have her sent to us."_

_There was a creaking of a door, it sounded like it came from somewhere up above. Then all of the sudden there was a loud THUD, which caused her to jump. She looked over to her left, where the object had landed. _

_It moaned._

_She jumped back alarmed because of the sound. The person started to stir, and slowly rose to their feet._

_It was a woman. She had long blonde hair, and was wearing a black uniform that looked more like a one-piece swimsuit. Down the middle was the symbol of a lightening bolt. Her outfit was completed with elbow length black gloves, and thigh high boots. _

_The woman rubbed the back of her neck, before facing her. "They got you too? Damn bastards shot me up with something when I wasn't expecting it. Don't worry though. I am pretty sure that I can get us out of here."_

_With that, the woman attempted to jump, but fell awkwardly back down to the floor._

_She looked confused. "Where are my powers?"_

_She looked around the room, like she expected to find them there. Then she unexpectedly shouted, " WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SHAW?"_

_The sudden outburst startled Rogue. She had no idea what was going on, but she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach._

_The chilling voice answered back. " Don't worry Ms. Marvel, your powers are still intact. We injected you with a temporary power inhibitor. A scientist that worked for Trask Enterprises created it. We unfortunately had to dispose of him due to his discovery, but not before we apprehended the formula-"_

"_What does that have to do with us?" Ms. Marvel cut off the phantom voice._

"_I am so glad you asked. You are going to help this young lady take full advantage of her powers. Just look at it like a little test. Unfortunately, you will not live to see the results."_

_Ms. Marvel whipped her head around and looked at rogue wide eyed. She raised her fist as if rogue was going to pounce._

"_You're with them?"_

_Rogue raised her hands up in defense. "No! I was drugged and thrown in here! I was tricked! I am not going to fight you!"_

_The voice came over the intercom system again. "Unfortunately my dear, you will fight her. Its either one of you live, or both of you die. We thought that if a Trask scientist was able to create a formula to hinder powers, why couldn't he create one that enhances them? So we had him do it for us…he was ever so eager."_

_All of the sudden a cloud of gas was distributed from the dingy vents up above. Rogue did everything in her power to avoid breathing in the fumes, but it was to no avail. She felt an instant tingling go through her body. Her skin felt like it was on fire. She felt her powers coming to her finger tips at full force. She knew that if the other woman came anywhere near her, she would instantly be killed. Speaking of the other woman, where was she?_

_The next thing she knew, the woman was hovering right in front of her. She had a crazy look in her eye._

"_Listen girlie, I don't buy your 'innocent' act. If one of us has to die, it is not going to be me. I tried to find a way out of here, and I can't. I'm sorry…"_

_And with that she dropped to the floor and kicked towards Rogue's leg._

_Rogue heard a SNAP, and instantly felt the worse pain she had ever felt in her life. She fell to the ground, screaming in agony. She was afraid to look at her leg, but Wolverine's previous training taught her that she would have to assess the situation. When she looked down, she knew immediately that her leg was snapped in half at the knee. The only thing that was holding the bones together was her skin. The woman must have some kind of super strength as well as the flight ability. She started to hyperventilate from a mixture of the pain and the sight._

_The searing pain clouded her vision. She desperately tried to look around and find her assailant. She heard the clicking of boots off to her right side. They were coming closer. She looked up into the eyes of Ms. Marvel. It was at this moment she knew that she was going to die._

"_I'll do you a favor and kill you quickly."_

_Rogue closed her eyes. The last thing she thought was, "I wish I had Jeans telekinesis, that way I could at least hold her in place until I figured something else out…I'll never get to see Remy again…"_

_She held her breathe and awaited the final blow, but it never came. She squinted out of one eye to see what was going on._

_Ms. Marvel was still in front of her, but it was as if she couldn't move, like she was stuck in place. Rogue went to look at a different area, and where her eyes traveled so did Ms. Marvel._

"_No…it couldn't be…"_

_She turned her head in a different direction, and once again Ms. Marvel moved in the direction of her sight. _

_She was controlling her with Jean's power. She had absorbed Jean at one point in time, when she was losing control of her powers. She had somehow called upon her telekinesis. _

_The realization startled her, and she lost control, releasing the blonde woman in the process._

_The woman stared at her with a death glare. "You'll be sorry for that!" And with that she charged towards her._

_Rogue immediately raised her hands up in front of her as an act of self-defense, and in the process grazed the skin of Ms. Marvel._

_She immediately felt the power surge through her body. She looked down and realized she was floating. Her leg no longer hurt, and she thought that had something to do with Wolverine's mutation. That or the fact that this Ms. Marvel character was indestructible. Speaking of Ms. Marvel, she looked down to see where the woman had gone off too. The sight she saw instead made her nauseous._

_She saw the woman in a heap on the ground. Her eyes were still open, but they were rolled back and glazed over. Rogue instantly knew that she was dead. _

_This was too much…it all was too much. She didn't mean to…she didn't want to…and then she passed out._

_**XXX**_

_She awoke to hearing hushed voices._

"_The enhancing formula has worn of Mr. Shaw, but she will still retain the powers of Ms. Marvel. I can't believe that she was able to call upon different mutations that she has absorbed in the past."_

"_Yes Ms. Frost, she will be the most powerful mutant in our ranks, you chose wisely my dear."_

"_Thank you my King, but I must warn you that she will fight us every step of the way. She is very strong-"_

"_Emma, you forget that you are a strong telepath. You will control her mind-"_

"_But Sir, that will be exhausting, how can I manage to watch her constantly-"_

"_YOU WILL AND YOU MUST!"_

_Emma looked down at the floor. No one noticed the woman hovering silently above them._

_Rogue had heard enough. It was either fight these idiots, or sneak out silently. She thought over her options. She could charge down against the two, which could be unwise due to the fact she knew nothing about Mr. Shaw or his abilities. Or, she could leave, never to be seen again, but she knew they would keep on searching for her. She decided against both._

_She slowly landed gracefully in between the two._

"_That is not necessary Mr. Shaw. I want to become a member of your club. You mentioned that I would have a high position. If you meant that, I will stay."_

_The large man looked at her suspiciously. "I am pleased to hear that you have changed your mind, but for my own reassurance, would you mind if Ms. Frost took a look in that pretty little mind of yours?"_

_Rogue froze. "Of course she can."_

_She turned to look into Emma's ice blue eyes. Emma looked into her deep emerald ones. Emma rested her fingertips on Rogue's temples and closed her eyes._

_Emma found nothing. Not one thought. Not one feeling. The girl had a mental shield up. She had to make a choice. She could help the only woman that had ever befriended her, or she could turn against her, and be imprisoned to control her mind for who knows how long._

"_She is telling the truth."_

_Rogue was surprised, and she did her best not to show it. Emma was actually covering for her._

"_Well this night has turned out magnificently. Lets end it on a good note, shall we? Emma, show our new Queen to her quarters."_

_He bowed towards Rogue, and turned to leave the room._

_The women walked in silence until they made it to Rogue's room. When inside Emma turned and locked the door. _

"_I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that you are going to sneak into his room and kill him for what he has done."_

_Rogue just stood before her in silence, not showing any emotion._

"_I didn't read your mind, if you must know. I just know you."_

_Rogue snapped. "You don't know a damn thing about me! I will destroy him, and you are lucky I don't do the same to you! The only thing saving your pretty little butt is the fact that you lied for me back there."_

"_Rogue, you don't understand. You can't fight him. His mutation is absorption. The more blows you throw, the stronger he will become. Even bullets and the blades of weapons can empower him."_

_Rogue thought about this. "Well then, I'll destroy him without hitting him or using force. I suggest that you leave tonight Emma, because things are definitely going to 'heat up' in here."_

_Emma got what the southerner was implying. She was going to set Shaw's mansion on fire, with him in it._

"_You better make sure that he is dead Rogue, because if he lives, he will hunt you down forever."_

_Rogue turned her back and looked at her reflection in the vanity mirror. The outfit held no meaning like it did earlier, no happiness or excitement. She looked exhausted._

"_Don't worry about that. You will not be able to tell there was anything here after I get through with it."_

_**Present Day**_

Rogue was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine off in the distance. She quickly ran her fingers through her long hair to make sure she looked ok. She still stood outside of the mansion's iron gates. She became increasingly nervous as the sound grew nearer. There were only 3 men in the house that had rode when she left. They were Scott, Logan, and…Remy.

Oh my God, what if it was Remy? She knew she looked exhausted and worn out because of the recent events. She had refused to fly here because she wanted no part of the powers that she took. They were permanently hers because she killed someone. He would think of her differently if he ever found out. She could now call upon mutations that she had absorbed in the past, but she didn't want the others to know that she changed, that she was different, that she was a murderer.

Would he even recognize her? Would he even care that she was back?

The bike and its rider had just turned onto the long driveway. She squinted her eyes against the sun to get a better look. It wasn't Remy, it was…

"Logan!"

She threw her bags down and ran towards him.

At first, he didn't know who was approaching him, until he had smelled her scent. That was the only way that he knew it was her. Well that and her signature white streaks. The girl had changed. Like a caterpillar turned into a butterfly. She was beautiful. She had definitely outgrown her goth stage. He had always thought her pretty before, not romantically, but how a father thinks highly of a daughter.

He smiled one of his rare smiles. She stopped when she came right in front of him.

"It's good to have you back, stripes. Did you get done what you went there to do?"

He was trying to ask her if she had gained control.

"Yes, I did. I got a little more then I bargained for."

She wasn't about to go into detail about everything right now. She doubted that she ever would. She knew he wouldn't push the issue. For now.

Logan pulled her in for a hug.

At first it was awkward for her, not because she didn't like it, but it was a rare display of affection coming from the hard core Wolverine.

He then let go and held her away from him. "You've changed. The five years you've been gone have been good to you. Ya look good."

She smiled at him.

"Well, let me help you with your things. I'm sure everyone will be excited to see you. Kitty asked me almost every single day if I had heard from you. I think that was the hardest part, not being able to contact you."

He wasn't about to tell her how Gumbo reacted when he found out she had left without personally saying goodbye. The kid had been heart broken because of it.

He looked over and saw how guilty she looked. "I never should have left."

The comment surprised him. He thought that the trip would be worth it because she gained control.

"Well your home now. Lets go inside."

She looked up at the mansion. She was home. She was finally home.

**To be continued**


	3. The New Girl

**Hey guys! Sorry that it took me a little longer to post. Just had a really heavy workload at school this week, and then my four year old had the flu. The joys of motherhood.**

**Anywho, just as a reminder, I don't do accents. I tried and it looked ridiculous. Also, I love Kitty, but I couldn't find it in my heart to put the word "like" after every word that she says. It will be in there occasionally, but will not be so extreme, since she has grown up a little bit. Again, my story is a mixture of the shows and comics, so it is still going to be jumbled. Well, I hope you guys enjoy, and please review!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything marvel. However, there are a few characters in this chapter that are all mine. They are the twins, Julie, and Kara…..grrr.**

**Chapter 3**

**The New Girl**

When she stepped inside through the heavy wooden doors, she quickly gazed about the room, nervous about seeing her friends that she hadn't seen in years. Oddly enough, she didn't recognize one face.

"Where is everyone?"

Logan still had her suitcases in his hand. "It's a Saturday, Stripes. Most of the team wouldn't be caught dead at home on their only free day."

She smirked at him. "Well, then why are you here?"

"Someone needs to keep an eye on the kids. Teenagers and hormones don't exactly mix well."

Some things never changed. Logan was a mother hen, even though he would deny it.

"Well teens will be teens. Just to remind you, I'm twenty-three now, so you don't need to worry about me anymore."

He had to smirk at her toughness. "Darlin, when you get to be my age, then we'll talk."

She still was absent-mindedly scanning the room. "You don't even know your age. For all we know, you could be a hundred years old."

He chuckled and placed a cigar in his mouth. "Exactly."

She shook her head and bent down to pick up her bag, but was confused to see it wasn't where she had placed it. She looked to the side and saw a teenage boy with her bag in hand.

"I got it for you. I know how to treat a lady."

She tried not to laugh. The boy couldn't be more then thirteen-fourteen years old. He had sandy red hair and freckles, and she had the sudden urge to pinch his cheeks.

"I appreciate that…" She had never seen him before so she didn't know his name.

"Jake. My names Jake."

"Well Jake, that won't be necessary because—" No sooner had she spoken, when another teenager showed up right besides the first. He looked identical to Jake; only he was wearing a different outfit.

"Hey. My name is Jessie and I'm Jakes twin. I can help you with your other bag."

Rogue was more than confused at this point.

"Really boys, I can get it—"

Jake turned to Jessie. "No Jess, I got it."

Jessie turned to Jake. "No bro, I do."

The next thing she knew, she could smell something burning. She looked at the teen's hands and saw that her bag straps were on fire. She quickly ran over, grabbed the bags and threw them on the floor, stomping out the flames.

Logan thought this would be a good time to intervene. "Rogue, I see you have met Thing 1 and Thing 2, our resident fire starters."

He turned his attention to the teens. "Boys, this is Ms. Rogue. She will be helping me teach the mechanics course.

The boy's turned and looked at her with longing. "Wow, you're hot and you work on cars? I am so thinking of you tonight when I—"

Wolverine growled, and to emphasize his point, he extended his claws for an added effect.

"She is a teacher, and you will treat her with respect. Got it?"

Apparently they did, because they ran out of the room as quick as their legs could carry them.

He bent down to pick up the scorched bags. "Damn hormones."

Rogue didn't know what to say, so she kept quiet. She would never get used to male attention, regardless of their age.

When he led the way upstairs, he went in a different direction than her old room.

"Hey Logan, I know you have the whole amnesia thing going on, but my room is that way." She pointed in the right direction using her thumb.

"Funny, kid. Those rooms are for students. Since you claim you're a big girl now, you get to move into the teachers' quarters."

He led her down to the end of the hallway. He stopped and turned to the left, opening the door.

She stepped inside, taking in her new surroundings. The room was definitely bigger. She noticed there was only one full sized bed. She turned around to face him.

"I don't have to share a room anymore?"

"Nope. Its one of the few perks that come with this job."

She spread her arms and fell back on the bed. It was soft and comfortable, and she was exhausted.

"I'll let you get some rest kid. You come down when you're ready."

He turned around before he exited the room. "Hey Stripes?"

She turned her head towards him. "Yeah?"

"I'm glad your back."

She smiled at his comment. "I am too."

**XXXXXXX**

When she woke up, the sun was still high in the sky. She looked over towards the nightstand and read 2:00 p.m. in green numbers on the clock. She had slept for 3 hours, and felt wonderful. She got up from the bed and stepped out on her very own balcony. She had the sudden urge to take to the sky, feeling the spring air on her face.

She shook the idea out of her head. That thought probably was one of Ms. Marvels. Since she had gained control of her powers, she no longer heard the voices that would drive her to the point of insanity like before. She did, however, have certain thoughts or ideas that she knew came from other psyches. And she knew that one was not her own.

She did enjoy flying. She loved it, but every time she would take to the sky she was reminded that she had killed someone, cold blooded.

She dismissed the idea and went to take a shower in her very own bathroom. _Wow. Being a teacher does pay off. _She had never had her own bathroom before. She reminisced back to the good ol' high school days, when she would have to wait for hours while Jean or Kitty would get ready. She used to hate it at the time, but now the memory brought a smile to her face. She was excited to see them again.

She took a quick shower and came out with her towel wrapped around her. Now that her hair was longer, she could let it air dry and her natural curls would show themselves. She started to take her belongings out of her bags, trying to determine where everything should go.

When everything was in its proper place, she then grabbed a plain white baby doll tee shirt, and some short jean shorts. She pulled the shirt down over her head, grabbing her hair and untucking it. The shirt fit her like a glove, showing a little bit of her well-defined midriff. She put on her panties, and pulled her low-rise jean shorts up. She grabbed her girly cowboy boots and pulled them up to her calves. She also put on some gloves because she planned on tinkering on some cars in the garage, and she didn't want the oil to get everywhere. She didn't really care too much at this point who saw her. None of the old team was at home anyway. Butterflies started to form in her stomach when she thought of seeing Remy again. She knew his habits, and if they were anything like before, he wouldn't be showing up till much later tonight, or early tomorrow morning.

She took one last look in the mirror, and headed downstairs.

Her plan was to find Logan to see if he wanted to work on a vehicle beside her, and she knew exactly where to find him.

She made her way towards the danger room.

When she arrived to the observance room, she was excited to see some familiar faces down below, as well as some new ones.

"Bobby, I like swear if you throw one more ice cube at me, I'll phase you through the ground, never to be seen again!"

"Kitty, the way you're moving today, I doubt you could even catch me."

"Bobby, that isn't any way to talk to a lady. You ok Ms. Kitty?"

Bobby a.k.a Iceman's appearance had changed, but mentally he still acted like that 17-year-old boy she had known before she left. He was a little taller, and his body was definitely not a teenage boys anymore.

Kitty had even changed. Her hair was no longer in that signature high ponytail, but hung loosely down to her shoulders. She was still small framed, but looked more mature, more grown up. She, like herself, had turned into a woman.

The third voice belonged to Sam Guthrie. He, along with the rest, had changed in appearance. His sandy hair had grown out, developing a cute curl to it. He still had his sweet smile and his southern hospitality.

She scanned the room below and noticed another figure. He walked up to the group with angelic white wings flowing behind him. She had always thought him handsome and polite, and was glad to see that Angel had joined the team.

She decided that it would be a good time to make her presence known.

She walked down to the main level, and stepped through the automatic doors. Everyone in the room turned towards her, and stared.

"Well are you guys gonna say something, or just stand there?"

A high -pitched squeal was heard, and Kitty ran up to her long time friend. "Oh my gosh! When did you get back? You look so different!" Kitty grabbed a lock of Rogue's long hair to prove her point.

Rogue could tell that her friend was itching to hug her. She nodded her head in approval, and the smaller girl pounced towards her, almost knocking them both over in the process.

Kitty apparently had thrown caution to the wind, because it appeared that she had forgotten about the no-skin-contact rule. When she noticed that the skin of her arm was touching Rogue's, her eyes widened. "You gained control?"

Rogue could only smile at her chipper friend. "Yes."

Kitty let out anther squeal, and hugged her friend even harder. After what seemed like hours, she finally released her, allowing her to breathe again.

"Wow Rogue, you ditched the witch look and came back a whole new woman."

Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to face Bobby. "And you traded in your body, but forgot to replace your brain."

Bobby grinned. "Aww there she is. I knew she was in that hot bod somewhere."

She didn't realize how much she had missed them. Sam stepped up to her.

"You look real pretty Ms. Rogue. I'm glad to see your back home. Everyone missed ya."

She blushed faintly, feeling ashamed that she had just upped and left the way she did.

"I missed everyone. I thought about you guys every single day. But look at the bright side, now I can do this…" She took off her glove, licked her finger, and stuck it in Bobby's ear.

Bobby squirmed away from her touch. "Aww come on! And you call me immature? Payback is a bi…wait a minute, did you just touch me with your bare hand?"

She only smiled back at him.

"Rogue that is awesome!"

Warren stepped shyly up to her. "I'm glad to see that you have returned. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I joined, and found out that you had left."

He lifted his ocean blue eyes up to meet her jade ones. "I hope we can become good…friends."

She smiled and raised her eyebrow at him, but before she could reply she was interrupted by Logan's gruff voice. "Alright, reunion is over. Get back to your session. Stripes, care to join your team mates?"

Rogue turned towards the man she had been looking for. "I will tomorrow. I promise. Right now I was gonna go mess around with the engines; touch up my skills a little bit. Wanna join me?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I need to keep my eyes on these guys."

"Oh…ok then."

He could tell that she was a little more than disappointed by his reply.

"Can I get a rain check on that though?"

She perked up a little bit. "Of course." And with that she turned to leave to make her way to the garage.

**A few hours later**

She had been working on the car in the garage for quite awhile, taking things out, and then putting them back in again. She really just had one thought on her mind, and that thought consisted of a handsome Cajun.

She heard the door behind her open. "Rogue? Are you still in here?"

She recognized Kitty's voice. "Yeah Kit, over here."

Kitty walked over to join her friend, pretending to have interest in what was under the hood.

"I was just seeing what you were up to. Just thought that we could hang out like old times."

Rogue looked up at Kitty. "You wanna help me with this kind of stuff?"

Kitty made a look of disgust. "Eww, no. I just wanted to talk. So what have you been up to? How did you gain control? Did it take a long time? Are you going back to that school again?"

Kitty was bombing Rogue with questions.

Now it was Rogue's turn to fake interest in what was under the hood of the car.

"I haven't been up to anything, I gained control with help from that telepath, Ms. Frost, it seemed like it took a long time to me, but apparently it was supposed to take much longer, and I will never be stepping foot on that school property again."

That last answer surprised Kitty. She figured since that Ms. Frost woman had helped her, she would at least go back and see her every once in a while.

"Really? I mean you lived there for five years, you don't wanna go and visit or—"

Rogue turned abruptly to Kitty. "I just got here! Are you already trying to get rid of me?"

Kitty looked at her dumbfounded.

"No! You were gone for so long, and you didn't contact us! Sorry if I am interested in what you were doing the whole time."

Rogue immediately felt horrible for snapping at her friend. "I'm sorry Kit. You're my good friend, and I'll tell you what happened one day, but just drop it for today, ok?"

Kitty looked disappointed. "Ok sure. Whatever. There is a reason I came down here though. I wanted to talk to you about Gambit, before you found out from anyone else."

Rogue whipped her head up in Kitty's direction. "What happened? Is he ok?"

Rogue was starting to panic. Kitty could see this and quickly reassured her friend. "Oh it's nothing like that. He is perfectly fine. You will see for yourself here shortly."

Rogue still looked at Kitty with a blank stare. Was she trying to torture her? "Well than what is it?"

Kitty started to mess with one of her fingernails. "It's nothing big. I just know how you had deep feelings for him, and you have been gone for a long time, and I care about you—"

"WHAT IS IT KITTY?"

Rogue had to fight the urge to shake the smaller woman by the shoulders.

"It's just that he has a –" Before Kitty could finish, her cell phone went off.

Kitty sighed and looked at the caller I.D. She looked back up at her friend apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this. I'll be back in a minute." And just like that, she was gone.

Rogue was frustrated. What was she going to say? It was almost as if she was afraid to tell her. She decided that she would find out soon enough. She leaned against the car and sighed. When she looked up, she saw a radio on the shelf. She smiled to herself. _Music always makes me feel better._

She turned up the radio, and turned around to continue working on the car.

**XXXXXX**

It had been a good day. He liked doing "business" this way. He had to practice his thieving skills somehow, and back at the mansion they weren't too understanding of that fact. So he did what he had to do to get his practice in. He loved spring weather. People wore less layers of clothing, so it was easier for him to obtain their cash, jewelry, or whatever else sparked his interest.

He pulled up to the mansion gates, and punched in the security code. The gates swung open, and he rode up to the front entrance. He left his bike parked out front instead of the garage because he was only going to be inside for a few moments. He just had to grab a few things for a date he had planned. He heard some classic rock coming from the garage. Interesting. As long as he had been here, he never recalled Scott or Wolverine blaring the radio. Someone must have gotten laid. He decided that he couldn't pass up the opportunity to mess with one of the two, so he made the decision to go down there after he dropped off some things in his room.

After a quick shower, he made his way down the stairs towards the garage. He could feel the eyes of some of the female students following him. He smirked to himself.

A cute leggy blonde approached him. She was 18, and a senior. "Hello, Mr. LeBeau. I was wondering if you could help me out with my French homework tonight."

"Not tonight Julie, but maybe another time?"

She raised her eyebrows and turned to walk away from him, revealing a tattoo on her lower back. "Anytime you like, Sir."

He couldn't help but smile. Life was great.

He walked by two boys, and couldn't help but overhear their conversation. "Man did you check out the new teacher? She is smoking hot. There is no way that I'm skipping out on that class."

So the mansion had a new teacher? When did this happen?

He continued to the garage. Sure enough, the music was still on. He opened the door, and saw a sight that he was not expecting to see.

A woman was bent over under the hood of a car. Her backside was turned to him, and the view was marvelous. Her waist was petite, but flared out in a feminine way at her hips. Her shorts were super short, revealing long, defined legs. Her skin on her lower back was showing, revealing a beautiful tone and that slight dip in her back, right above her round, plump behind….

The woman was a goddess. He decided to put on his charm, and speak up.

"You must be the new teacher. If your front side looks anything like your back side does, we will get along just fine."

**XXXXXXX**

Rogue froze. She knew that voice. She knew _his_ voice. She slowly turned around, and her emerald eyes met his scarlet on black ones.

He looked shocked.

She took in the rest of him. He had grown more. He was at least 6'2. His hair was much longer, almost down to his chin. His body was more defined. He was wearing a black tee shirt and some jeans, but she could tell he was more muscular then the last time she saw him. He was lean and muscular. He still had a shadow on his face, like he hadn't shaved in a few days. He was beautiful. He looked like a model straight out of GQ magazine.

She didn't know what to say. She didn't think that he would be back so soon. She nervously ran her fingers through her hair.

"Hey Rems. It's a pretty day out, huh?"

_It's a pretty day out? _ She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She looked down at her hands and started messing with her gloves.

**XXXXXXX**

When the woman turned around, he was blown away. She was breath taking. Then he saw those eyes, those beautiful emerald eyes. _Mon Dieu, it's Rogue!_

She had changed quite a bit. He had always thought her attractive before, but now she was amazing. She wore very little make up, but still had long, dark lashes and ruby red lips. Her figure was indescribable. All he could say was that she looked like she could model for sports illustrated. She had definitely "grown" into her body. Her stomach was even toned and well defined.

"Hey Rems. It's a pretty day out, huh?"

Even her voice sounded angelic. He could tell that she was nervous by the way she was fidgeting with her gloved hands. What a minute. She still wore gloves; she must not have gained control.

"It is a pretty day, but nothing compares to the view in here."

She looked back up towards his face. Did he just call her pretty? She felt like an elementary school girl. Maybe he did feel the same way about her, as she did for him. She had the sudden urge to walk up to him, pull him down to her mouth, and kiss him. She had never really kissed a man before, and was willing to bet that this moment was perfect. It was the reunion that she had dreamt of.

She stared at him seductively, and started to slowly make her way towards him.

He continued to watch her every move.

She stepped directly in front of him, and placed her hands on his chest. She looked up into his hypnotizing eyes, and proceeded to stand on her toes to reach his mouth with her own…and then the garage door opened.

She jumped back like a deer caught in headlights, and looked towards the car that had interrupted their moment.

The black mustang with tinted windows pulled slowly into the garage._ I swear, I'm gonna kill whoever is in that car._

She stared hard at the car, while the driver turned off the engine. Then the door opened, and a slender leg was revealed.

A woman stood up, and had some shopping bags in her hands. She was about her height, and had raven black hair that was cut at her chin. It was so dark it almost looked like it had a blue tint to it. She had dark brown eyes; they almost looked black in appearance. She was wearing a black tank top and denim capris. She was cute, but Rogue had never seen her before.

The woman got out and huffed at the weight of all of her bags.

"Oh Remy, I'm so glad you're down here! Would you mind helping me carry these to my room?"

Rogue looked towards Remy, and he continued to stand there and stare at her, like he couldn't move.

The woman looked at Remy, and then turned her attention to Rogue.

"Oh I'm sorry, how rude of me, I didn't see you there! You must be new."

She made her way over to Gambit and leaned on him, a little to close in Rogue's opinion.

Remy looked like he was frozen still.

"Oh…um…Rogue…this is….this is…"

The woman giggled and playfully slapped his arm.

"Can you ever be serious?"

She turned her attention back towards Rogue, and smiled warmly. She stuck out her hand.

"Hi. My name is Kara. I'm Remy's girlfriend."

**To be Continued…**

**Please review! And no death threats please :)**


	4. Never Would Have Thought

**Chapter 4**

**Never Would Have Thought**

She must not have heard correctly. Did this woman just claim to be _her_ Remy's girlfriend?

She tried to look at Gambit, but it seemed that his eyes were avoiding her own. She looked back at the woman.

"You're his girlfriend?"

The woman's face didn't waver. "Yup. Two years strong now…but again my names Kara, and you are?"

Rogue had completely spaced out and forgot that the girl had her hand out.

"I'm Rogue. I'm not exactly new, I've just been gone for a while."

The last thing she wanted to do was shake her hand. She would rather pick her up and toss her up in the air, just to see how high she would go.

She reached down and pulled off her gloves, and tucked them under her arm. She extended her right hand.

"Rogue, don't!"

Both women jumped from the sudden outburst.

Remy was normally a smooth Casanova, but right now he looked as if he was going to have a panic attack.

When Rogue saw the fear in his face, she realized that he didn't know that she gained control of her powers. He had thought that she was going to absorb Kara. She was furious.

"Are you serious? You really thought I would do that?"

She needed to keep her temper under control, because she had to fight the impulse to call forth every mutation that she had ever absorbed, and zap him with them all at full force.

Remy didn't know what to think at this point. Here was this girl, this woman, that had broken his young heart years earlier. Then she mysteriously just shows up looking incredible, and attempts to kiss him. Honestly, he didn't think that he would have stopped her. His emotions were conflicted at this point, but he knew one thing. He was angry. He had loved this woman, and if she had talked to him, instead of being her usual closed up self, she would have known this. Instead she chose to leave without saying a word.

"I don't know! You've been gone for 5 years, I don't exactly know you anymore!"

She was speechless. The man she had thought of every single day since she had left, said that he didn't know her anymore. She felt the all too familiar pang in her chest. She would be damned if she let him see her cry.

She quietly whispered, "You're an asshole."

She turned to the other woman, and quickly shook her hand, just to show him that she had finally gained control. "Sorry about that. Nice to meet you."

Kara looked the most baffled out of the three. "Yeah, you too."

Rogue quickly turned around and stomped out of the room.

Remy felt horrible. She had finally gained control, and he had acted like a jerk. He should have known that she would never intentionally hurt someone, regardless if that someone were his girlfriend.

Kara looked at him questionably. "What was that about?"

He turned to look into her deep brown eyes. "Trust me, you don't even want to know."

**XXXXXXXX**

She didn't know what to think. He had a girlfriend. She should have known that he didn't feel the same about her. She had been so foolish to think that he would. She had to get out of here. She had to leave.

She quickly made her way to her room. When she turned the corner, she ran right into Kitty.

"Owww…oh Rogue. There you are. Sorry about the interruption earlier, it was a call that I had to take because—"

"Kitty, I know he is with someone."

Kitty's eyes widened a bit. "How did you find out?"

"He came down to the garage. His girlfriend pulled in when we were down there." She wasn't about to tell her friend that she had stupidly tried to kiss the man.

"I'm sorry Rogue, I know how you feel about him."

"You know how I _used_ to feel. I'm a new woman now." She tried to smile to prove her point.

Kitty wasn't falling for her act. "What ever you say. Well I am going to go shopping, you want to go with me?"

The last thing she wanted to do right now was shop, but she didn't want Kitty to know anything was wrong. "Yeah, sure. I need to get a few things anyway."

Kitty looked surprised. "Wow. Really?"

Rogue let out a forced laugh. "Yes really. I told you I was a new woman."

"Alright. Lets go!"

**XXXXXXXX**

Rogue waited impatiently on a bench. They had been at the mall for four hours almost. She was sure that they were going to close soon. She had forgotten that Kitty was a persistent shopper. She gazed about her surroundings. It seemed that there were couples everywhere. She sighed out loud.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

She swung around to see who was speaking to her. "Oh hey Warren…just waiting, what about you?"

He smiled at her. "Well last time I checked, I thought people came to the mall to shop, but it seems that you have proven that fact incorrect."

She blushed slightly. "I came here with Kitty. You know how she is."

"Wow. You must be brave."

She cracked a smile. "I guess so."

There was an akward silence between the two.

"So Rogue, I was thinking that maybe sometime we could—"

He didn't get to continue because Kitty rushed up to the both of them.

"There you are, I have been looking all over for you…oh hey Warren."

Rogue turned back to him. "What were you saying?"

She could have been mistaken, but she thought she detected a slight blush in his cheeks.

"Oh, nothing. I'll see you back at the mansion." And with that he turned around and walked off.

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "So what was that about?"

Rogue hadn't the slightest idea. "He just came over to talk, I guess. Can we leave now?

Kitty had a mischievous look on her face. "Warren is a quiet guy. He came over to talk to you?"

"Yes. What's the big deal?"

Kitty smiled, knowingly. "I think our Angel has a little crush."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Kit, we aren't in high school anymore. Scott and I were the first out of the team to try to recruit him, that's why he is a little more chatty with me, I guess."

It was Kitty's turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah sure, whatever you say. You ready to go?"

"I have been ready for the past two hours. Lets go."

**XXXXXXXX**

When she arrived home, she went straight to her room to put her newly bought items away. She looked at the clock. It was 8:00 p.m. She knew that she would have to wake up early for her first danger room session. She doubted that Logan would let her get by with skipping out on it. She would go down to the kitchen, grab a bite to eat, and call it a night.

She started to go down the stairs, when a warm voice interrupted her thoughts.

_Hello Rogue. Would you mind joining me in my office?_

She smiled to herself. So the Professor was home.

She changed her direction to head towards his office. When she arrived she knocked lightly.

"Come in."

She opened the door, and smiled at the Professor. The man looked exactly the same to her, and there was something that was comforting about that.

"Hello, Professor."

"Hello my dear, I am glad that you have returned to us."

"Me too. It's been a long time."

He smiled at her kindly. "It has. That is why I wanted to speak with you. Logan has informed me of your return, and I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable with teaching."

"Of course. I taught the same thing at the other school."

"Yes, I heard. How was your stay there?"

She wanted to tell him it was horrible, but decided quickly against it. For a precaution, she put up a mental shield. She knew he would never go inside her head without permission, but she had to be safe.

"It was fine. I finally gained control."

At the mention of this, his smile broadened. "Yes, I have heard that as well. Congratulations on your development—" a quick look of guilt passed his face. "—I am sorry that I didn't give you the help that you needed."

She was surprised at his remark. "You did! I was just impatient, a bad characteristic of mine."

"That is a characteristic that many of us have. The reason I wanted to meet with you is to discuss some things. As you probably already know, Kurt is no longer with us because he is studying abroad in Germany."

Now it was her turn to feel guilty. She hadn't known this.

"Also since you have returned, have you considered rejoining the team?"

She had already thought of this, and she thought the answer would be obvious.

"Yes I have, and I can't wait to start."

"I'm glad. I was hoping you would say that. There has been a new development, and I will be discussing it tomorrow morning with everyone. Do you have any questions for me?"

She didn't, so she shook her head. "Nope. Just glad to be home." Really she felt awful. She was in love with a man that had a girlfriend.

"I am happy you are here as well."

Rogue's stomach rumbled loudly.

He chuckled. "The others are in the kitchen, if you want to join them."

She grinned. "I think that I will."

**XXXXXXXX**

When she opened the door up to the kitchen, she saw some known faces.

Jean was sitting at the table, laughing at something Scott had just said. She was still very pretty, and still with Scott. Rogue remembered how Scott had befriended her when she first arrived, when no one else would. She had developed a little crush on him because of it. She didn't know it at the time, but her envy of Jean had prevented her from getting to know the girl. She felt guilty about it, because Jean had attempted to befriend her many times.

She cleared her throat to signal to the couple that someone else was present in the room. The couple turned their attention to her, and just like everyone else, appeared not to recognize her.

"Wow. I didn't think I looked _that_ different."

Jean's eyes were full of recognition first. "Rogue?"

Scott quickly caught on as well. "Is it really you?"

Oh geez, how dramatic. "Yes you guys, I'm back."

The pair quickly got up and approached her. Jean was the first to speak. "You look beautiful! We were just talking the other day about you; we were wondering when you were coming back."

Scott smiled lovingly at the red head and then turned his attention to her. "We were. The place hasn't been the same without you." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad your back."

She could tell that he was sincere when he spoke those words. "Thanks Scott. I see you two are still going strong."

Jean blushed. "Yes, there have been some new progresses that have taken place since you have been gone."

Rogue was confused, until Jean held out her left hand. There was a beautiful diamond ring that was placed on Jeans delicate ring finger.

There was a point in time when this would have bothered her, but she had come a very long way from that girl she used to be. She was sincerely happy for the couple.

She grabbed Jeans hand with her own. "It's gorgeous!" She turned her attention to Scott. "And it's about time!"

It seemed like the pair were only half listening to her. She looked at them and noticed that they were looking at her bare hand holding Jean's.

Oh yeah, she did forget to mention that.

"You did it! I knew you could!" Scott hugged her, and Jean actually looked like she was going to cry. How had she been so mean to this woman, who showed this much passion for someone that was horrible to her?

"Yeah I finally got control. So now maybe I'll be a stronger team mate."

Scott looked puzzled. "You were always a strong team mate. Look at the situation with Apocalypse. Without you, we all would have been doomed."

Rogue remembered that awful event. "It was my fault that he was even freed in the first place."

Jean stood up, and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "That wasn't your fault. A maniac was controlling your mind. You weren't the only one he took advantage of."

Rogue had forgotten that Mesmero had used Jean and some other team members as well.

The kitchen door swung open, and Kara stepped in wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top. "Oh, hey guys."

"Hey Kara. You ready for the danger room tomorrow?" Jean apparently was nice to everyone. Rogue chose to ignore her and went to search through the fridge.

"You know it! I don't know why Wolverine schedules them so early in the morning."

Rogue wasn't going to listen to the pointless babble. She took out some left over chicken, and grabbed the milk.

"So Rogue, Kitty tells me that you were already a member of the team. I hope you're placed on my team tomorrow, because by the sound of it, it sounds like your mutation is an awesome one to have."

The woman was trying to be nice to her. Remy must not have told her how she had tried to kiss him. Or about the letter. Or about her in general. And Kitty talked to her? What a traitor!

"Yeah, it was awesome not being able to have any skin contact what so ever."

Scott shuffled his feet awkwardly. Jean noticed his movement. "You can go upstairs honey. I'll be up in a minute." She had to stay just incase the situation needed a mediator. She hadn't forgotten that Rogue had quite a temper.

The raven-haired girl wasn't put off by her snappy comment "I know, that must have sucked, but you have control over it now, right?"

The girl couldn't take a hint.

"Yeah."

Rogue brought her reheated chicken and her glass of milk to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat down. To her dismay, Kara sat right across from her. She looked over and noticed that Jean was pretending to be busy. She smirked. Jean was there to act as a peacemaker.

Rogue decided to ignore the woman sitting across from her. She took a bite of the chicken. _Wow. This is really good. _She didn't realize how hungry she was.

Kara noticed the look of bliss on Rogues face. "Isn't that delicious? Remy made it. He's such a good cook."

Rogue suddenly lost her appetite. She went to take a drink of her milk.

Kara turned her attention to Jean. "So Jean, when is the big day? Since you guys finally got engaged, maybe Remy will finally get a clue and ask me—"

Rogue choked, and spit her milk out. She looked up and saw that Kara was now drenched.

She tried not to laugh. "I'm sorry, it went down the wrong tube."

Kara just sat there, with her arms out like she was disgusted. Then she did the unexpected. She laughed. "Its no big deal. I needed to take a shower anyway. Well I'll see you guys in the morning." She got up and left, still laughing to herself.

Rogue was puzzled. "Wow. She didn't even wipe it off or anything."

Jean came over and handed Rogue a towel to clean up the mess. "She is a really nice girl. You guys would get along well."

Rogue sincerely doubted it, but she wasn't going to tell Jean why. She decided to change the subject while she wiped up the mess. "So... when _are _you guys getting married?"

Jean blushed. "Sometime in the fall next year. I want an outdoor wedding, and this property has beautiful colors in autumn."

Rogue shook her head to agree. Jean noticed that the southerner seemed down. She wouldn't tell her, but she knew why. She still had feelings for Gambit. Jean didn't need to be a telepath to guess it.

She had an idea. "So you want a piece of chocolate cake? It's store bought, but it is fantastic. I can pour you some more milk."

She used her telekinesis to get the milk from the refrigerator and bring it to the table.

Rogue laughed. "I knew even you took advantage of your mutation."

Jean smiled. "What good is it to have a power if you don't use it?"

Rogue thought about this. She had discovered that she possessed a very powerful mutation. She could use any mutation that she had ever absorbed. If she made contact just briefly, with any mutant, her power could be limitless and she could use it for the good of the team. But it would come at a price. Not only would her team mates look at her differently, she knew that other mutants would seek her out and try to take advantage of her, just like that bastard Sebastian Shaw had done. There was also the issue of her permanently having the powers of Ms. Marvel. She quickly decided against the idea.

When she had finished eating, she got up and put her plate in the sink. As she headed towards the door, Jean stopped her.

"You know Rogue, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

She appreciated the offer. "Thanks. I'll see you in the danger room tomorrow."

**XXXXXXX**

He hadn't been able to stop thinking of the vixen that had reappeared in his life. Yeah he was angry, but every time he thought of her bent over that car, it caused his manhood to stir within his boxers. He imagined her in the garage, walking slowly towards him with that look in her eye. He slowly reached his hand down within his boxers.

He was interrupted by a knock on his door. "_Merde_!"

He got up to answer the door. When he opened it, he was not expecting to see Kara covered in…something.

He leaned against the doorframe with a smirk on his face. " Remy knew he made you wet, but he didn't know it was this bad."

She laughed at his use of third person. He had gotten better at avoiding it, but every now and again it would show up in his speech. "Ha Ha. You mind if I take a shower in your room? I was thinking you could join me—" She pulled off her tank top, and was working on untying the drawstring on her pajama bottoms. When she freed herself from her pants, she sauntered towards the bathroom, and gave him a seductive look over her shoulder.

He had never been the type to deny a woman, and he wouldn't start now.

He released himself from his boxers, and followed her into the bathroom. When he stepped into the shower, he couldn't help but think of a certain southern woman with a wisp of white in her hair.

**XXXXXXXX**

She woke up to her alarm clock blaring. She rolled over and saw that the clock read 6:30 A.M. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Danger room session was at 8:00, and she didn't want to be late. She got up and took a quick shower. She quickly dried her hair with a blow dryer, and pulled it up in a ponytail. She looked in the mirror and put on some lip-gloss and mascara, although she didn't know why. It wasn't like she had anyone that she was trying to impress anymore. She went to her closet to find her uniform. Kitty had informed her that she had hung it up. When she pulled it out she noticed that it had changed. It was leather and clung on her like a second skin. It still had her signature color of green on it, but it went down the sides of her torso and legs, almost giving her already appealing body an hourglass effect. The middle was black, but her chest section wasn't fully covered like it was before. It showed the cleavage of her "assets ". She still had boots, but they came up a little higher, right above her knee. She looked out of habit for gloves, but figured that they were no longer included since she didn't have the need for them. She turned to look at herself and sighed. She looked like a character straight out of a porno. _Who designed this_?

When she was out in the hallway, she turned around to shut her door. She heard the door across from hers open. She turned to see who her neighbor was. She was disappointed to see Kara.

Kara looked at her and reddened. "Oh, I didn't think that anyone would be up yet. You didn't see me." She then winked at her and proceeded to make her way down the opposite end of the hall, where she entered a different room.

Ok. That was weird. What was she talking about? She turned to make her way down the stairs to head towards the kitchen, when she heard someone else coming out of the room. She gasped. It was Remy. So the room was his. His room was right across from hers. Kara had just left his room. His room that was Right. Across. From. Hers. What else could go wrong? She just couldn't catch a break. She tried to hurry down the stairs before he had a chance to see her.

"Rogue?"

Shit. So much for that idea. "Hey." He looked good, as usual. He had on his dark colored uniform, and wore his signature brown duster.

She quickly turned around and attempted to hurry down the stairs.

"Dang girl, you missed danger room sessions so much you gotta run to them?"

The man was insufferable. "No. I wanted to get some orange juice before it started, and I don't want to be late." She still had her back to him.

He couldn't take his eyes off of her. That uniform left little to the imagination. She really was a goddess, and the way her hips moved from side to side when she walked was mind-blowing. The view from the back was fantastic. He smirked to himself.

"I don't think you ever have to worry about an opponent beating you while you wear _that_ uniform. At least not the male ones anyway"

She turned to him and gave one of her famous glares. The badger would be proud.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well as soon as they see you, they will keel over from a heart attack. Either that, or swoon at your feet."

Oh my gosh. Was he trying to flirt with her? "Wow. I would think that after five years you would have at least gotten funnier."

He grinned. She was taking the bait. He wanted her to open up to him again. "You wound me, _Chère"_

She swung around, almost causing him to run into her. "You don't get to call me that anymore."

She had surprised him with her abruptness, but he wouldn't let her know that. They had made it to the kitchen, and he leaned on the fridge while she proceeded to search for the orange juice, which just happened to be right in front of her face. He reached in, grabbed it, and handed it to her.

She grabbed it from his hands and went to poor herself a glass. Damn Cajun.

"Well that presents a problem, since you tried to kiss me yesterday. I think that gives me grounds to call you _Chère__."_

She turned bright red. "I did not!"

He smirked as he shined an apple on his sleeve. He then turned to walk out of the kitchen door. "The shade of your face tells me otherwise."

Damn that man! How did he make her mad, yet make her have butterflies in her stomach, all at the same time? She was going to beat his ass in the session.

**XXXXXXXX**

She stood to the side with the rest of the team. Logan was making them do a 'Steal the flag' mission. She had done this so many times in the past. It seemed a bit juvenile to her. At least all those hard-core training sessions at the other academy would pay off. She tried to look at Gambit out of the corner of her eye. He stood on the other side of Kitty, shuffling a deck of cards, eyeing her.

She was so distracted by his entrancing eyes…

"Earth to Rogue!" She quickly turned her attention to Wolverine.

"What?" She felt embarrassed that she was so caught up in Gambit, that she hadn't heard him.

He repeated himself. "Stripes, you will be on team A with Half -pint, One eye, and Ice cube." He then turned to the remaining members. "Team B will be Red, Gumbo, Wings, and Furball."

Rogue raised an eyebrow in Kara's direction. Kara smiled at her and shrugged her shoulders. Logan had always made up nicknames for everyone, she was just curious to see what kind of mutation Kara had, to earn the nickname "Furball".

Kitty spoke up. "Where's Sam?"

"He's sick with the flu."

Kitty started to complain. Logan didn't let it last long. "His room reeks of vomit. Trust me, he's not faking, I would know."

Kitty quickly shut her mouth.

"Now Stripes, we added some decoys to the program. I know you have been out of the game for a while; you think you can handle it?"

He was trying to challenge her. Rogue rolled her eyes. She stepped away from the group and went to the center of the room. She took a deep breath and took a running start, doing a series of backflips and handsprings that were worthy of Olympic competition. She landed in a crouched position, ready to strike.

The look on everyone's face was pure awe.

She smiled smugly from the reaction. "I don't know Logan, what do you think?"

"Alright show off, you proved your point." The corner of his mouth went up in a smirk. It appeared that someone had followed his advice and practiced "Ok everyone, meet with your leaders and decide on a tactic. I'll be keeping score from the observance area. When the buzzer sounds, get to it!"

The danger room morphed into a jungle like arena. Cyclops called them in. "Ok… plan. Girls, since your powers are more defensive, I think you should be the ones to go for their flag. Shadowcat, once you get it, it will be hard for them to get their hands on you. Just make sure to be alert. Rogue you will guard her. Are you comfortable with using your powers if you have to?"

Now that she no longer had to deal with the rush of voices when she absorbed someone, she didn't mind at all. He had no idea that she would be adding more powers to her "inventory".

"Yeah, its no problem."

"Good. Bobby and I will stay back and guard our flag. Sound like a plan?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. It was perfect timing too, because the buzzer rang.

"Alright team, move out!"

Rogue took off with Kitty. She made sure to lead the way, to play her part as guard. She decided to cheat a little bit, and pulled Wolverines super sense to the front of her mind. They crept slowly through the trees, trying not to make too much noise from the brush.

Rogue heard the flapping of wings up above. She quickly grabbed Kitty, and rolled them both to a near by bush. She looked up, and sure enough there was Warren flying by up above.

"Wow. Good call Rogue." Kitty whispered.

The two continued to make their way towards their opponent's side, when she saw a familiar figure leaning on a tree.

"Well hello, imagine meeting both of you here." Remy pushed himself off the tree and extended his bo staff.

Rogue looked to Kitty. "You should phase through the ground. I know it takes a lot of energy, but just go under him and come up on the other side of that hill there. Leave the rest to me."

Kitty nodded her head, and disappeared in the earth within seconds. Rogue turned to look at Gambit, but he wasn't in the same spot. She used her super sense to try to detect any motion, but she knew that Remy would still be hard to hear.

She heard something above her. She looked up to see what had caused it and saw…nothing.

She quickly realized her mistake, because she felt a leg kick the back of her own and she was on the ground in one swift motion. He was on top of her holding her arms down in seconds.

"You should know better than to get distracted by a rock being thrown. Thats the oldest trick in the book. Although, Remy can't say he dislikes the position your in."

He was speaking in third person. He was acting a little too cocky for her taste. She pulled just the right amount of her own absorption power up.

Gambit realized his error when he noticed he had his hands on hers. He wore gloves, but they still exposed his fingers.

When she saw him look slightly woozy, she turned her power off, threw up her legs, and wrapped them around his neck. She used her own strength to topple him off of her, and she quickly had him on his back, his head between her thighs.

He looked up at her and smirked. "You play dirty. I think I like this position better than the other one. Oh, and nice eyes."

With the recent absorption, she must have retained his mutation. She quickly called back his power, therefore regaining her own eye color back.

He looked at her curiously, eyes half shut. "Since when have you been able to do that?"

He closed his eyes and lost consciousness before she could answer. She dragged him to a near by rock and propped him up. She then made her way to find Kitty.

It appeared that she was at the "enemy" base, facing off against Jean. Interesting. Where was Kara?...

She heard a deep growl to her left, and turned to see a HUGE tiger charging towards her. She screamed from shock, and the large cat had her pinned within a blink of an eye.

She naturally went into defense mode, and used her super strength to kick the tiger off of her with her legs. So Kara's mutation was…she could turn into a tiger?

All of the sudden, the tiger got back on its feet. It turned, and the air around it started to ripple. The tiger then started to shape shift, turning into a… rhino… a rhino that was charging towards her. She stood there shocked, when the buzzer sounded. She looked up and saw that Kitty had obtained the flag.

She turned around, and Kara was in human form, standing in front of her, somehow still clothed.

"Sorry, I should have told you I'm a shape shifter. I can only turn into animals though, not people. It does have the tendency to shock some people."

Rogue could only stare at her. "Ya think?"

The arena disappeared, reverting back to the danger room. She saw Remy walking, with a hand on his head.

"I will never get used to that."

Kara went over to him and put his arm around her shoulder. She smiled up at him. "It can't be that bad."

She then turned her head towards Rogue and grinned. "Men. Their such babies!"

Remy smirked and turned to Rogue. "We will have to continue this some other time."

Wow. The guy had some nerve. He was hitting on her right in front of his girlfriend. His girlfriend that actually seemed to care about him, and it did seem that he reciprocated those feelings.

Her heart started to ache. This sucked.

Kitty approached her with a look of concern on her face. "Great job out there! I'm gonna go change, I'll talk to you afterwards, ok?"

She nodded her head in acknowledgement. A few minutes later, she turned around to find that Warren was waiting for her.

"Hey. I was just seeing if you were hungry, because I know this great place that has the best—"

"Hey Rogue, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Logan was quickly approaching the two.

Rogue turned back to Warren and smiled. "Sorry."

Warren threw back his head and sighed. "You're a busy woman. I'll just catch you later." And he exited the room.

Rogue shrugged her shoulders and turned to Logan.

"So how did you do that back there?"

She didn't understand. "Do what?"

"Kara can turn into a 400 pound Tiger, and you hurled her off of you like she was nothing more then a hamster."

So he had caught that. She became flustered. "It was my adrenaline pumping I guess. She startled me."

He wasn't falling for it. "Sure. When you feel like telling me the truth, come find me."

Well he would be waiting a while, because she wouldn't be telling anyone about that for a long, long time. She turned to leave.

**XXXXXX**

When she made it back to her room, she couldn't wait to put on some comfortable clothes and take a long nap. As she started to unzip her uniform, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

_X-Men, please assemble in the conference room._

She sighed. Her much needed nap would have to wait till later.

When she made it to the conference room, much of the team was already there. The only chair available was the one right next to Remy. He over exaggerated a sweeping motion with his hand over the chair, to signal that she should sit there.

She sighed and sat down next to him.

The professor then addressed them all. "This meeting will be brief. I know that most of you want to get some much-needed rest. First off, I would like to officially welcome back Rogue."

There were a few smiles and nods in her direction.

"The other reason I called you in here is because we will be welcoming someone new. I can trust that you all will welcome her and treat her with kindness. She will make a great addition to the team. I will be traveling more often now to continue the fight for a peaceful co- existence between mutants and humans, and I need someone here to help run things while I am away."

The door opened, and a woman walked in wearing an outfit that was not appropriate attire for a school.

Rogue stood up quickly from her chair. She never wanted to see that bitch again.

Remy looked at her, concerned by her reaction.

"I would like to introduce you to Ms. Emma Frost."

**To be continued…**

**So I have to admit, Kara's mutation was influenced quite a bit by Sam from Trueblood. I love that show. The books are awesome too. **

**Anyway, I will be posting again within the next week. PLEASE review! (Did that come off as desperate? Lol)**


	5. Don't get mad Get even

**Disclaimer: I still do not own anything Marvel.**

**Chapter 5**

**Don't get mad. Get even.**

"What the hell is _she _doing here?" Rogue pointed her finger at the blonde woman in the room.

The professor looked at her, surprised by her reaction upon seeing the new recruit. He wasn't the only one. There were quite a few concerned stares being shared throughout the room.

Emma looked like she was bored. "You heard the man. I am joining the team. He needed someone with knowledge on the running of a school. I was the obvious choice, especially since you and I worked so well together." She then looked up, and smiled sweetly.

Rogue wanted to punch her teeth out.

She continued to stand defensively. She looked about the room, anxious that the bitch had lured them in there to launch some sort of attack.

The professor addressed her. "Rogue, is there something the matter? I would think that you would welcome her, based on your past encounters with each other."

She knew that she shouldn't have been mad at him. He didn't know what had happened. But there was no way that she could hide her anger.

"You should have talked to me! She is conniving and deceitful! She always has something up her sleeve, that is when she actually has sleeves and isn't dressed up like a cheap whore!"

"Rogue, that is quite enough! Do you care to explain what is going on?" The professor apparently had lost his patience with her outburst.

She didn't know what to say. If she did, she would have to reveal her little secret.

"She…she just…I…"

Emma looked at her with an arched eyebrow raised. "Oh my, you haven't told them, have you?" She laughed and crossed her arms, knowing that the power had just shifted in her favor.

Rogue wanted to pull forth a power, any power, and blast the whore away.

She knew that she was backed into a corner. She didn't have a choice now. She had to tell them.

She turned to address the confused faces. She intentionally looked at Remy. "The reason I can't stand that _thing _over there—", She pointed an accusing finger at the other woman to emphasize her point, "—is because…is because she—"

Emma cut her off. "—is because I slept with her boyfriend. It meant nothing, and honestly it wasn't very good, but the poor man couldn't help himself. Most men can't control themselves around me."

Rogue looked at her. What was she up to? Why was she helping her hide the truth?

Rogue hated to lie about the situation. It seemed like it would make it worse, but she wasn't ready to expose her secret just yet.

She returned her gaze to her friends. "Yes… and we haven't been civil ever since."

There was an uncomfortable silence. Gambit was the first to speak.

"You had a boyfriend while you were gone?"

Did she detect a hint of jealousy in his voice? This was bad. She wasn't about to tell him that all she did was think of him everyday. She had to lie.

"Yes."

He turned his stare elsewhere. She thought she saw a flash of red in his eyes.

Kara scooted closer to him, as if Emma would crawl across the table and start undressing Remy and have her way with him.

Emma hadn't realized that Rogue hadn't told anyone. She wondered why the professor was so willing to have her join them. This was even better then she expected. Now she didn't have to explain herself, and grovel at their feet. This was good, because that wasn't exactly her style.

Everyone seemed to accept the story, everyone that is except for Wolverine.

"Interesting. What was this guys name?"

Rogue looked at him, anger flashing in her eyes. "It's no one's business. Besides, it doesn't matter, we are over."

Bobby stood up. "You want me to kick his ass?"

Rogue could only roll her eyes. "No. Like I said, it's over."

Wolverine stared at her. He knew she was lying, but why? He could hear her pulse quicken. She had always been reclusive, but she never intentionally lied to withhold information. He was going to figure it out.

Emma chose this time to speak again. "So now you all know. No wonder she didn't tell you, it is quite humiliating."

Rogue turned to her, fist balled. She would love to break her nose right about now.

The professor decided to take control of the situation. "Ladies, that is enough. Let us get back to the point of why Ms. Frost has joined us. I will be leaving soon. I will be representing our cause, which will take me away from the school. Ms. Frost, along with Logan and Scott, will be sharing the responsibility of running the school while I am away. The school year has almost come to an end, so it shouldn't be stressful. Are there any questions?"

No one responded.

"Well then, you are all dismissed.

Everyone got up to leave. Remy seemed to walk a little quicker then the others.

**XXXXXXXX**

Rogue paced her room. What was Emma planning? She knew something was up. The last time she was with her, she had absorbed her. She left her unconscious at her school.

There was a knock at her door.

She went to answer it, and was disgusted to find Emma standing there.

The bitch had some nerve. She should have slammed the door in her face. "What the fuck do you want?"

Emma allowed herself in, passing the enraged southerner. She avoided her question. "Nice room. I couldn't help but notice that lover boy was right across the hall. I bet you were thrilled. I do like your taste. He is even cuter than I thought he would be."

Rogue didn't have time for games. "Get to the point, or get out."

Emma continued to mosey through her room. She then looked at Rogue, the look in her face changing.

"You didn't kill him. I told you to kill him."

Rogue looked surprised. "How do you know I didn't?"

"Don't play dumb with me. You do not realize the severity of your actions. I went by the Hellfire mansion. There were no scorch marks, no destruction. There was no sign of anyone there. Did you allow him to live?"

Rogue didn't owe her any answers. "He will not be bothering anyone again, if that is what you are worried about."

Emma turned quickly to face her. "You are foolish if you think that is true."

"Why the hell do you care? I would think that you would be thrilled to learn that the leader of your little club is ok."

Emma had a look on her face. Rogue couldn't quite name it, but it almost resembled fear.

"No. I am going to tell you something, even though every fiber in my body tells me otherwise."

Rogue couldn't take much more of this. "Than don't. I don't want to hear any excuses on why you did what you did to me."

Emma ignored her. "I didn't exactly join the Hellfire Club willingly. I didn't have a choice in the matter."

This caught Rogue's attention. She continued to listen.

Emma continued. "I have a brother that is very dear to me. His name is Christian-", at the mention of his name Emma smiled, which quickly faltered. "- his name _was_ Christian. We were very close growing up. He was there for me when no one else was. He didn't feel uncomfortable around me like the other's did when they found out I was a telepath."

Rogue could see that Emma was reminiscing in her own mind.

"When he became a man, he informed us that his sexual preference had changed. He was gay. My father shunned him, leaving me the family fortune. Christian couldn't cope with it, and he became suicidal. My father had him committed because of it. When my father passed away, I had my brother released, and I vowed that he would never be harmed again. How wrong I was."

Emma walked out to the balcony, and looked at the beautiful grounds.

Rogue unwillingly followed.

"I was young, powerful, and rich. I was the perfect candidate for the Hellfire Club. Sebastian sought me out. When I refused his offer, he made me another offer I couldn't refuse."

Anger flashed in her eyes.

"It was either join them, or lose my brother. I made the mistake of refusing him again. I thought it was just an empty threat to persuade me. The next day my brother disappeared, and I have been doing Shaw's biddings ever since. He promised me Christian was alive and healthy, and I believed him. After 2 years I became impatient. I demanded to see my brother. He declared that the only way that would happen was if I found an extremely powerful mutant to take my place."

She looked at Rogue. "That's when I found you. I knew I could better you. I knew Shaw would look at you like a shiny new plaything. I also knew that he would do something extreme to make you hate him, like he did to me. I thought that you would kill him after you gained control of your power and we all would be free."

Rogue spoke up. "That wasn't your bet to place."

Emma looked at her sincerely. "I know. But you have to understand, I had no other choice."

"What happened to your brother?"

Emma looked on, with no trace of emotion on her face. "Do you recall leaving me in my room unconscious at the school?"

How could she forget? "Yes."

"Well I awoke to the sounds of alarms and to the smell of smoke. Someone had started fire to the school. At first I thought it was you, until I made it to the stairs. There hanging from the chandelier was my brother. He was naked, stripped of all his dignity, and his throat was slashed."

Emma turned her attention back towards Rogue. "I had no choice. I had to come here; there was nowhere else for me to go. Everything I have worked to protect is gone. It was coincidental that Professor Xavier needed help."

Rogue stood across the room, taking in all of the information she had just received.

"Why should I believe you? You are the ultimate con artist. You convinced me that you cared, that we were friends. This could be just another lie."

Emma was expecting her response. "If you don't believe me, look into my mind. Absorb me, and pull forth my fresh thoughts. You have absorbed me in the past, just use my telepathic powers and look into my mind."

Normally Rogue wouldn't dream of doing that, but she had to make sure that Emma wasn't here to cause harm to anyone in the mansion. She decided that she would use Jeans telepathy since she had a little more control over it. That and she didn't want Emma to lose consciousness.

She concentrated, and pushed herself into Emma's mind. She saw a steel door, and she entered it. She could see fire all around her. She couldn't breath; there was so much smoke. What happened? How did she get here? She had to get out of the building before it collapsed. She ran down the stairs, which would be the safest way. Then she saw him. A blonde man that resembled Emma was hanging. He appeared at one time to be handsome, but his face was now thin and had a grey hue to it. His throat was opened, and blood still trickled down his naked form. She looked at his face. This would be the last time she would ever see his face…

Rogue withdrew herself from Emma's mind. She quickly ran to the bathroom, and started to vomit. The view was horrible, but she couldn't even begin to explain the feeling. It was the strongest feeling of despair that she had ever felt. No one could act that out, not even Emma.

She continued to heave until there was nothing left but bile. She wanted to cry at the feelings she had just experienced. She went to the sink and washed her hands. She then brushed her teeth, needing to become clean to free herself from what she had just encountered.

Emma leaned with her back against the doorframe, looking bored. "That was a bit dramatic, don't you think?"

Rogue walked past her. "How do you do it?"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"How do you cope with the rush of feelings, the memories, when you go into someone's mind?"

Emma turned. "With a lot of practice. Lots and lots of practice."

Rogue sat on her bed. "I didn't kill him. I couldn't. I never killed anyone before. After I absorbed you, I flew you back to the school, leaving you unconscious in your room. When I returned to the Hellfire mansion, I floated into his room. I entered his mind while he slept, and I began to erase memories. I cleaned up. I don't know what they were, but I wanted him to be a shell. Just an empty shell, with no clue of who he was. I then absorbed him to make sure he would stay unconscious. I flew him out to the city, and left him on the streets to wander. It wasn't him who did that to your brother Emma, it would be impossible."

Emma pondered this. "Where did you leave him at?"

"In a dumpster, by an old warehouse. I wanted him to think that he was scum."

Emma took in the information. "You realize that we have to find him, to finish the job? There are too many others out there that are far worse. If they find him, the consequences would be horrifying."

Rogue looked at Emma, confused. "I won't. If you want him dead, you do it alone. I can't do it, no matter how much he deserves it."

Emma turned to leave.

While her hand was on the door handle, she turned back to look at the southerner. "I trust you to keep this information to yourself. I would hate for your secret to be revealed." She turned the handle and exited the room.

Rogue sighed. This was all too much. She still hated the woman for betraying her, but unfortunately she could understand why she did it. She still felt sick. It was almost one o'clock. She had danger room this morning, and now this? She needed to take a rest.

**XXXXXXXXX**

When she awoke, it was 3:00 pm. She had been asleep for two hours. She got up and proceeded to the bathroom. She striped herself of her clothes, and stepped in the shower. She washed her body thoroughly, trying to wash away the memories.

She stepped out, and wrapped the towel around her naked body. When she went out into her room, she walked over to the balcony to shut the door.

"Hello _Chère._"

She was so startled by the voice that she almost dropped her towel. Almost.

"Remy, what the hell! Get out!"

He smirked at her. "I always used to come into your room through the balcony window. Thought I would try it out again."

She made sure her towel was secure. "Ok, well you tried it out. Good for you. Now get out!"

He made no attempt to leave. Instead, he layed on her bed, and casually put his hands behind his head. "So, you had a little relationship while you were gone?"

She couldn't believe it. This is what he wanted to talk about? She walked over to her closet to find some clothes. The last thing she wanted to be in front of him was naked. When she made her selection, she turned around to find that he was standing right behind her. She hated when he would sneak up on her like that. She looked up into his face. He was so handsome.

"Did you love him?"

Ok. She didn't have time for this. Like he had any room to be asking questions. "Honestly, its none of your business."

She started to make her way to the bathroom so she could get dressed, but he quickly grabbed her hand, and turned her around to face him.

"It is my business. We need to talk about some unfinished 'business' between you and I."

"What are you talking about?" She didn't see where this was going.

"About that letter that you left me. Did you mean it?"

This conversation took a turn that she wasn't expecting to take. She was stuck.

"I….what letter?" She decided to play dumb. Maybe if he thought she forgot about it, he wouldn't question her anymore.

He looked into her deep emerald eyes. She was so beautiful. He gently placed his hands on her chin, and tilted her face up to his. He leaned in closer to her full lips, and whispered, "Did you mean it, _Chère?"_

Just the way that he spoke brought forth a yearning inside of her. She couldn't deny her feelings for him any longer. "Yes. Every single word."

He smiled slightly. He was all too familiar with the look in her eyes. He didn't need any encouragement. He leaned in to kiss her.

There was a sudden knock at the door.

Rogue jumped back, startled. She made her way to the door, and looked back to see where Remy was. She wasn't shocked to find that he was gone.

However, she was a little shocked to see Kara behind the door.

"Hey Rogue. Have you seen Remy?"

Ok, this was awkward. She wrapped her towel tighter around herself. "Ah…umm….no. I just got out of the shower. Sorry."

"Just thought I would check. Thanks though." Kara took off in a different direction.

Rogue shut her door, and took a deep breathe. She couldn't handle any more surprises today.

**XXXXXXXX**

She had been searching for him for nearly an hour. Something wasn't right. She could feel it. She decided to try his room one last time.

She knocked, a little harder then she meant to. "Remy? Are you in there?"

"Yeah. Come in."

She walked in, not bothering to close the door. "Where the hell have you been? I have looked everywhere!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. She had never questioned him before. "I was in here."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "No you weren't. I came by already."

He continued to watch his T.V. "I must not of heard you knock."

She couldn't control herself anymore. "You were with _her,_ weren't you!"?

That got his attention. He still pretended to have interest in what was on the T.V.

"Remy don't know what you're talkin' about."

Kara huffed at his response. "Don't give me that shit! Ever since she walked in the mansion I could tell you wanted her! I know you already fucked that home wrecking whore!"

Remy had enough of her temper tantrum. He quickly stood up, towering over the woman. Nobody could talk about Rogue like that, especially in front of him. "Just what exactly are you referring to?"

"That Emma bitch. All the guys were practically drooling over her. I could sense that you wanted her! You didn't pay attention to me at all!"

Was the woman serious right now? It was so ridiculous he wanted to laugh, and he did.

This enraged her even more. "You're laughing about it?"

"Trust me, it's funny. She has only been here a few hours! You never have to worry about me and the ice queen." But she did have to worry about him and a certain southern belle.

Kara lowered her arms from her chest. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"OK. Now I feel stupid."

"Don't. I have put you through a lot in the past." He had cheated on her before, and she had been an emotional wreck because of it.

The sad thing was this was all an act. He sought her out, he recruited her to be apart of the team, but his intentions weren't pure. Not by a long shot. His father Jean-Luc, had demanded that he charm the woman into his bed, and develop a relationship with her. Kara was the daughter of a very powerful man, and Jean-Luc needed an alliance to join him against the assassins. The assassins were becoming a little too powerful for his taste. The deal was almost finalized. Personally, Remy doubted that Kara's father gave two shits about them dating. He doubted it had any influence over the man at all.

After Rogue left, he had been angry. Angry with her and angry with his father. The only reason he joined the team was for her. He needed a release, and that person was Kara, along with other nameless woman. But no matter how hard he tried; he never fully could quite get over Rogue. He honestly didn't think that she was coming back. The only reason he stayed was because it was either Xavier's, or home. Home was out of the question due to a certain assassin. When she did show up, he was thrilled. The old feelings rushed back to him. The worst part was making her believe that he had moved on, when that was far from the truth.

Kara looked up at him lovingly. Every time she did, he felt guilty. She would hate him when he broke it off. He did care for her as a friend, but he didn't love her. When it came to being intimate, she was just another nameless face.

She smiled at him. "You promise there is nobody else?"

Time to put on a show. He grabbed her chin, like he had grabbed Rogue's moments before. "You are the most beautiful woman I know, I would be crazy to leave you."

He then placed a tender kiss on her lips.

She looked to the side, and leaned into his chest. "It seems that we have an audience. That's a little…weird."

Kara didn't shut the door. _Merde! _ Remy looked up and felt his heart drop when he saw the look on Rogues face. He could see the hurt in her face. She quickly walked off.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She had just gotten dressed, and was on her way to find out where Remy had gone. His actions earlier showed that he did still care for her. She smiled to herself and opened her door. Her smile quickly disappeared when she saw the scene in the room across from hers. She didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help it.

There was Remy, grabbing Kara's chin and bringing her mouth towards his, just like he did to her a few minutes ago. She then heard him say that he would be crazy to leave her.

He was a womanizing whore. She believed that he cared for her; when all he was trying to do was get into her pants. She was so stupid. She could feel the tears start to form in her eyes.

She wanted him to know that she saw everything. When he turned to her, she wanted him to feel like a moron because he was caught.

It worked. The look on his face was worth it. She stormed off to find Kitty.

It didn't take her long. Kitty was outside, going over some papers.

Rogue plopped down on the bench besides her.

Kitty didn't look up. "It blows my mind that some kids don't know the basic stuff about computers. Its like they don't hear a word I say."

"We all can't be computer whizzes."

Kitty shrugged her shoulders.

"So Kitty, I need to talk to you about something personal."

Kitty looked up at her. "Um. Ok. What's up?"

"Remy tried to kiss me."

Kitty let out a squeak.

Rogue held up her hand. "Don't get too excited, right after he tried, I caught him using the exact same move on Kara."

Kitty was silent for a moment. "Well you know Rogue, she is his girlfriend. Technically you would be in the wrong if you had let him kiss you. Good thing you turned him down."

Rogue turned to her friend. Kitty thought that she had stopped him from kissing her, when that was the far from the truth. "Yeah…good thing."

Kitty went back to grading papers. "Well you should go after someone who is available."

The last thing she wanted was to be with another man.

Kitty continued. "Warren has a major crush on you, ya know."

A light bulb went off in her head. "You know where he is at?"

Kitty looked at her and smiled. "Why, are you going to see if it's true?"

Rogue unexpectedly hugged her friend and rushed off, leaving Kitty very confused.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She found Warren in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, flipping through the pages of a newspaper. His eyebrows were scrunched together at the news he was reading. She walked over to him. "Hey, can I join you?"

He smiled at her. "Of course."

She sat down next to him. "So, I know that you have been trying to talk to me about something lately."

She scooted slightly closer to him.

Warren cleared his throat nervously. "Yes. I was wanting to see if you would—"

At that moment, Remy came through the doors out of breath. "There you are _Chère, _I need to talk to you about—"

Warren interrupted the Cajun. He wasn't going to let anyone ruin this for him again. In one breath he said, "Rogue, you are funny, intelligent, beautiful, and perfect. The man who cheated on you was such an idiot. I have wanted to take you out ever since I met you."

Rogue looked at him, a little surprised. "Oh. Wow."

She could feel Remy staring at her, waiting for her response.

"I would love to go out with you Warren. Just let me know the time and the place."

Warren had a huge grin on his face. "Well, on Friday I can take you to this great restaurant in town. They have great food and dancing. We can go there, if that's ok."

Remy had never had a problem with Warren. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he didn't act like a rich snob. But tonight, Remy's opinion of him changed drastically. He wanted to blow the man up.

He had an idea. "What a coincidence, I am taking Kara there on Friday. You are talking about Gionnino's, correct? We should go one a double date!"

Rogue eyed him angrily.

Warren didn't seem too fond of the idea, but he didn't want to be rude. "We wouldn't want to intrude on your plans—"

Remy slapped him on his back. "Nonsense, _Mon Ami. _It will be a blast." If she was going to play dirty, he could too.

Warren reluctantly accepted. "Ok. Sure, that is if Rogue's ok with it."

Rogue couldn't believe what just happened. She thought about it. This might actually work out in her favor. She turned to Gambit. "That sounds fun! I can't wait. Me and Kara have _SOOO_ much to talk about!"

She detected a flinch in Remy's face. He smirked at her. "She won't be there long. When ever she drinks she can't wait to get me naked."

OK that was a little much. Rogue turned to Warren. "I can't wait. I'm glad you asked me." She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. He watched her leave the room.

Remy said his goodbyes to Warren and quickly followed her.

She walked at a quick pace, knowing that he was following her. "Leave me alone."

She made it to her door and faced him

He ignored her request. "So, you and wings huh? You don't waste any time, do you? He seems a little too up tight for you. You need a guy that can relax you, help you lose control…"

He put his hand on her door, leaning in towards her face.

She wasn't falling for it this time. She opened her door, which caused him to stumble forward.

"He's a nice guy, unlike yourself."

He straightened up and smirked at her retort. "Yes, but how does that old saying go? Ah yes, nice guys finish last."

She had enough of his bullshit. She turned and smiled sweetly at him. "Not every man is a dirt ball like you. We will see who is last when he's fucking my brains out in his bed." She slammed her door in his face.

She leaned against her door. Ok that was a little much, but she was sick of his cockiness. She could play the part of a vixen if she had to. She never would sleep with Warren; she had respect for herself. That and the little fact that she was still a virgin would keep her from going through with anything.

Remy stood outside her door still. She had thrown him off his game with that last comment. He was aggravated. He needed to release some of his anger, among other things. He went to Kara's room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Emma called the number that was written on a small piece of paper.

A voice answered on the other line.

"Well?"

Emma replied. "I found her. She's here."

**To be continued…**

**Thanks for reading! Please review!**

**A/N: Christian is really Emma's brother in the comics. He did become suicidal and was committed, but not because Emma inherited money.**

**Also, Gionnino's is a real local Italian restaurant in my area. They really do have awesome food. **


	6. The Date

**Chapter 6**

**The Date**

She awoke to her alarm clock buzzing. She groaned to herself, and reached over to press the snooze button.

She was really not looking forward to assisting today with the mechanics class. It wasn't that she didn't like the job; she actually felt quite the opposite about it. She thoroughly enjoyed teaching. She just wasn't looking forward to teaching with Wolverine. He was on to her, and she knew it. She knew if he found out about her new mutation he wouldn't out her, but she didn't want his opinion to change about her. She wouldn't be able to stand it if he thought negatively of her.

The sunlight was peaking through her curtains, flooding her room with light. She cracked one eye open to look at the time.

The clock read 7:00 A.M. Classes start at 8:30 A.M, and she had to be there thirty minutes early. She had an hour to get ready.

There was an upside to teaching a mechanics course, and that was the fact that she didn't have to dress up to teach it.

She lazily sat up, and rubbed her eyes. She threw back her covers and swung her legs over the side of her bed.

She let her bare toes graze the cold hardwood floor. She loved that feeling. It was little things like this that people took for granted. She used to cover herself up from head to toe. She always wore socks to bed when she shared a room with Kitty, just incase. She secretly had many little moments like this that she loved, that others wouldn't even think about.

She let the moment pass, and grudgingly left her soft, comfortable bed. She made her way to the bathroom, where she quickly washed her face. She placed her hair in a ponytail, letting the length of it cascade down her back. She was unable to tame her white streaks. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried to restrain them, they always found a way to escape and surround her face.

She threw on a pair of jean shorts and a green fitted t-shirt. She put her boots on, and laced them up. She didn't give too much thought to her outfit. She was willing to bet that Logan would make her put on one of those cover all outfits while they were in the garage.

She glanced again at the clock. It was 7:30 a.m. She still had thirty minutes. She decided to make her way down to the kitchen for some breakfast.

As she exited her room, she heard someone whistling from down the hall. She had a funny feeling that she already knew who was producing the overly exaggerated happy tune.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she glanced up and saw Remy walking up the hall.

He was awfully chipper. His was hair was messy still, like he hadn't had the chance to brush it. Yet, he still looked unbelievably good. She hated that she was so attracted to him.

She decided that she was going to ignore him. Obviously, he was starving for attention, and she refused to give it to him.

She continued to the stairs, but couldn't resist the urge to glance in his direction. When he passed her, he tipped an imaginary hat in her direction, and proceeded to make his way towards his room.

Her stubborn nature prevented her from speaking to him, but she had to admit that she was a little disappointed that he hadn't said anything to her. Not even a perverted remark or anything.

Despite everything that had occurred, she just couldn't get over that man! What was so special about him anyway? He was a gambler, a thief, a cheat, a womanizer, and at times a borderline alcoholic.

Yet, here she was, pining after him like a school girl with a pathetic crush. She knew she had it bad. She also knew that she had to get over him. He had moved on after all.

Great. Now she was in a bad mood, and she was sure that it wouldn't improve when she met up with Logan.

She entered the kitchen and was rather surprised to find that it was so busy. She made her way over to the coffee pot, and was relieved to see that someone had already brewed a fresh batch.

She grabbed a mug and poured herself some. She took cream and about six splenda packets, before making her way over to the table. Remy had often criticized the way that she prepared her coffee. He would tease her, claiming that she destroyed the flavor of her coffee by disguising it as a sugar based drink. He claimed coffee was supposed to be black for one to experience the full flavor of it. She had always disagreed.

She sat down next to Kitty, who was enjoying a bowl of cereal.

Kitty glanced up and said a quick "Hey." Before returning to her bowl. She didn't seem like her typical cheery self.

Rogue grabbed a banana from the centerpiece on the table, and began to peel it. "Is everything ok Kitty?"

The smaller woman stirred her cereal. She looked like she was playing with it more than eating it. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Rogue obviously could tell that wasn't that case. "You don't seem fine. You have been messing with that one cornflake for about five minutes. It's about to turn into mush. I don't know how you eat that stuff without sugar in it." She opened her first packet of splenda, and poured it in her coffee.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "That's coming from a woman who dumps two pounds of splenda in an ounce of coffee. I'm surprised it's not the same consistency of a slushy."

Rogue proceeded to open the second packet and pour it in her coffee. "You don't know what you're missing."

After she completed the task of adding all of the packets in her coffee, she gave it a slight stir before bringing it to her mouth. She inhaled deeply, savoring the smell. She grinned to herself, knowing she looked like someone straight from a Folger's commercial.

She took a sip, and turned her attention back to her friend. "I know something is wrong Kitty. You've never been this quiet at breakfast before."

It was true. Kitty was usually talking about some TV show that aired the night before, or getting onto someone about the murder they caused by choosing to eat bacon.

Kitty continued to play with her food. "Remember that day we were in the garage and I had to leave to take that phone call?"

Rogue nodded and gave a muffled "Mmmhmm." while she continued to sip her coffee.

"Well it was this guy that I have been…seeing."

This caught Rogue's attention. "You have a boyfriend, and you didn't tell me?"

This was way out of Kitty's character. The last guy Rogue knew that she dated was Lance. She would have to sit in their room and listen to her friend rant and rave about the kid. It was borderline obsessive.

A thought came to her, and she frowned. "Uh oh. What's wrong with him?"

Kitty looked offended. "What do you mean?"

"Something must be wrong with him. You've never talked about him before."

Kitty hated when Rogue was right. She looked around the room, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation. When she determined that the coast was clear, she lowered her voice. "He has been out of the country. He is working for someone that, well lets just put it this way, someone that isn't exactly on the road to righteousness."

Kitty looked down, embarrassed by what she had just revealed. When she looked up, she was a little surprised to see that Rogue still looked composed, and was still drinking her nasty slushy coffee.

"Kitty, all of the guys you like have been bad guys. It's not that big of a surprise. Anyway, look at me! Like I have any room to talk."

Kitty knew she was referring to the crush she had on Gambit, after he practically kidnapped her and dragged her down to New Orleans. When he showed up at the mansion, the majority of them weren't exactly thrilled at the idea of having an ex Acolytes show up at their doorstep. That is why she was so nervous.

"He's different though. He is gentle and kind. He is so cute, and just hearing his voice on the phone makes my day better. He has been gone for two months now, and he was supposed to be back in the states next week. Last night when we talked, he informed me that the 'job' was taking longer than expected, and for all he knows, it could be another month before he comes back."

Rogue had a sudden rush of guilt come over her. Here she was, complaining about her own love life, when her friend was having big relationship issues herself. She wanted to ask her who it was, but she hadn't told her, and she wasn't going to push it.

"We talked about him joining the X-Men. He has a good heart, and this is where he needs to be. He just got sucked in on the wrong side, ya know? He wants to get out, and it's harder than he thought it would be."

Rogue scooted closer to her friend. "It will work out Kit. He will be back sooner then you think."

Kitty smiled faintly. "I hope you're right." She wiped her eye, and quickly changed her tone. "Anyway, its almost eight. We better get going." And with that, she placed her bowl in the sink and departed through the kitchen doors.

Rogue reluctantly got up herself. She really wasn't feeling up to this today.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When she entered the garage, she wasn't surprised to see that Logan was already there.

He didn't even turn around when he grumbled, "You're late."

Rogue glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "Seriously? Its 8:02."

He turned towards her, wiping his hands of with an old rag. "Exactly. We start at 8:00. Make sure you're on time tomorrow, or you get an extra danger room session this week."

She could tell that he wasn't going to make this easy. "I'm not a student anymore. You can't threaten me with danger room sessions."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Funny thing is, Chuck left three people in charge. I'm one of them. It's my way, or your outta here. Got it?'

He had never been this hard on her. She knew he wouldn't kick her out, but his words still stung.

She stubbornly crossed her arms.

"Go suit up. If the teens see you in that, it will reek of testosterone in here."

She walked to the hooks hanging on a sidewall, and grabbed the cover all. She proceeded to put it on over her clothes.

After she put on the dingy gray uniform, she made her way over to Logan. "So how is this gonna work. You talk, I show?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I'll teach. You just help them when they ask for it."

She was not just going to stand around the whole time. She had absorbed him before. She knew just as much, if not more than he did. "I am going to be bored out of my mind!"

"You are going to be in a room that consist mainly of teenage boys. You think they're just gonna let you stand on the side lines?"

Great. So now she was just in here to be eye candy.

She went across the garage to the car they would be working on. She went to go get a rag for her hands, when something caught her attention in the far corner. It was obviously a vehicle, but it couldn't be what she thought it was.

She couldn't hide the smile that came to her face when she felt a jolt of excitement run through her body. She hurried over to the car, and removed the cover.

What was underneath, in her opinion, was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

She grazed her fingers over the red paint. "When did you get her?"

Logan came over and leaned against the side of the vehicle. "Got her not long after you left. I just finished her up recently."

She continued to run her fingers along the hood. He knew she was a sucker for classic muscle cars. The 1967 Cougar looked like it was brand new, straight off the line. "Is it the ramped up engine?"

"You know it. 335 horsepower 390 4-barrel V8 engine. This baby has got some power."

He admired the fact that she could appreciate all the hard work he had put into it. He knew she liked the classics. He got that car with her in mind. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but there was an unspoken sense of family between the two of them. When she left, he felt an awkward emptiness that he wasn't accustomed to. Working on that car was a past time that they shared, and it made him feel better when he was working under the hood.

He actually planned on giving it to her when she came back home. Kind of like a welcome home gift. But something had changed about her. She held a sadness in her eyes that wasn't there before. What had happened to her while she was gone? He knew he shouldn't push the issue so hard. Hell, there were skeletons in his closet that would never be dug up. But he knew her, and if she didn't tell someone, the bottled up emotions would eat away at her. Her physical appearance may have changed drastically, but inside she was still that insecure girl, just trying to belong somewhere.

He decided now would be a good time to address the issue. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"

He thought that she would get defensive, and rush off, like she used to do when she was trying to hide. Instead, she continued to inspect the vehicle with a sense of awe.

"You're not gonna drop it until I tell you, are ya?"

He shrugged his shoulders, feigning indifference on the topic. "Either way, you know I always have a way of finding things out."

She decided she had to tell someone. They were all bound to find out sooner or later. She might as well tell the closest person she considered family first.

She inhaled deeply, and turned to look towards the gruff man. She proceeded to tell a very short version on what had happened. She figured the quicker she got everything out, the quicker she could get the dreaded reaction that she was expecting from him. That and also the fact that the students would begin to arrive in the next 10 minutes. When she finished, she grimaced, expecting a harsh feedback from him. When she looked up, her nightmare was confirmed. His claws were unsheathed, and he looked furious.

She felt a single tear form at the corner of her eye. "Say something."

"Does the professor know what that woman put you through? I should shred her to pieces."

Rogue couldn't help but sigh in relief. He wasn't angry with her. He was enraged at Emma. "No, but you cant say anything. She didn't have a choice. I promised I wouldn't say much about it, but trust me; her situation was way worse than mine."

He withdrew his claws, trying to regain his composure. He didn't want to upset her.

"You realize that this means you could possibly be one of the most powerful mutants on earth? I mean, you're up there."

"Yeah. That's why you can't say anything yet. Ok?"

She knew he would never betray her. She trusted him one hundred percent.

He decided that he needed a cigar. "You know I won't, but you know you will have to tell the team sooner or later."

She looked in a different direction, looking as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. He decided to lighten the mood. "Don't think just because you're invincible now that you won't get your ass beat by me in danger room."

She laughed. And it felt good to be happy, even for a short moment. "Please. I could toss you to the moon. Literally."

He chuckled at her reply.

She felt better. The students started to come in, one of them wolf whistling at her as he passed. She cracked her knuckles, and looked at Wolverine. He nodded his head, as if he knew exactly what she was asking to do. She turned towards the students seat, and nonchalantly flicked her finger towards the door, moving the guy's seat in the process. The teen missed his seat, and fell to the floor. She smiled to herself, as he looked around, embarrassed. Assisting in this class might not be so bad after all.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The week flew by with an unexpected speed. She had fallen into her teaching routine, and enjoyed the class more than she thought she would. She found herself laughing more. The fire-starting twins were in the class, and they were a great source of comic relief. Wolverine would even crack a smile in class every now and again. She only had two months until school was out for summer vacation, and soon she would have to find something else besides danger room sessions to occupy her time.

Class was over, and the kids practically ran to the door, ready to get their weekend started. Rogue smiled to herself, knowing that not too long ago, that was her taking off at high speed to escape the restricting walls of the classroom. These kids had it lucky though; they got to receive their education at the mansion as soon as their powers manifested. Xavier's was now an accredited school for mutants, and was doing rather well. She had learned that he hired teachers to come to the school based on the needs of the students for topics that they couldn't cover. These kids didn't realize how good they had it.

She looked at the clock herself, and felt the rush of nervousness through out her body. She had a date with Warren tonight. She hadn't been on a date since…wait had she ever been on a date? She went out a few times with Remy, but just as friends. So that didn't really count. Speaking of Remy, she was going to have to put up with him and Kara, since Remy so graciously offered all of them to go on a double date. She didn't know if she was nervous because she was going out with Warren, or nervous because Remy was going to be there as well.

Either way, she didn't have much time to get ready and pick out an outfit. She had to admit that she shouldn't have waited until the last minute to decide what to wear. If worse came to worse, she could always ask Kitty to help her pick something out. Actually, that sounded like a good idea. She hadn't had a chance to talk to her friend since their kitchen conversation.

She made her way to Kitty's classroom, knowing that she would still be in there.

When she opened the door, she found Kitty working on a computer, her hands half way phased through the machine. She was looking up at the ceiling, a look of confusion on her face. It looked like she was blindly feeling around on the inside of the computer itself.

"Hey Kitty, ya busy?"

Kitty turned her attention towards her friend. "Oh hey! No, just trying to rewire it. Mutant teens and computers don't mix well, especially when that mutant's power is electricity related. What's up?"

Rogue shyly began to intertwine her hands together. "Well tonight I have my date with Warren, and I was wondering if you wanted to help me pick out something to wear."

Kitty was flabbergasted. Rogue went shopping with her, and now she was asking her for fashion advice? She was ecstatic. She resisted the urge to squeak when she answered. "Oh my gosh! We need to hurry up! Let's go!"

She grabbed Rogue's hand, and practically dragged her out of the room.

Rogue looked back. "What about the computer?"

Kitty quickly responded. "It's not going anywhere." And with that, both women quickly rushed to Rogue's room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

While Rogue was in the shower, Kitty was still fingering through the hangers, not quite satisfied with the clothing options she had already selected that were now laying on Rogue's bed.

Rogue came out of the bathroom, dressed in some lounge clothes with the towel still wrapped around her head. She took the towel off, and bent forward, drying her hair off with her towel.

Kitty laughed at her. "I always thought you were weird when you did that. I don't understand why you practically have to hang upside down to towel dry your hair."

Rogue continued to run the towel over her head. "I don't know, it makes it fluffy. Plus it will help tonight. I think I am just gonna let it dry naturally and wear it curly."

Kitty looked at her like she had just grown another head. "Um, no. Tonight we are gonna do your hair really sexy."

Rogue laughed. "How can you make hair sexy?"

Kitty huffed. "You should straighten it. I bet it will look amazing."

Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever you say. Did you find anything for me to wear?"

Kitty sighed. "You really need to go shopping. You have, like, no dresses. The restaurant you are going to is super nice, and I am having a tough time finding something in your closet. What woman doesn't own a little black dress?"

Rogue silently cringed to herself, thinking of the dress Emma had given her.

She was awakened from her silent trance when there was a sudden knock at the door. Kitty went to answer it.

As soon as she opened the door, a petite woman walked in with a rack of…dresses?

Kitty stood still by the door, with a look of slight confusion on her face. "Um, can we help you?"

The woman smiled warmly at the both of them. "I am so sorry, I thought you were expecting me. I'm Heather, Warren's stylist. I was informed to bring these to a woman by the name of Rogue?"

Kitty squealed, and Rogue stood there dumbfounded. She knew Warren had money, but she didn't expect this. She felt very uncomfortable. The last time someone had delivered a dress, her night had been the worst of her life. She couldn't accept this.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't accept this. I really appreciate you stopping by though." She smiled sweetly and put on some of her southern charm. She didn't want the woman to be offended.

The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Very well. But I was given strict instructions to leave all of the dresses if you didn't choose one."

Kitty intervened. "Rogue, you need a dress. And Warren sent a stylist! Do you hear me? A STYLIST! This is awesome. Please, can we just pick one? Just one?"

Kitty had an over exaggerated puppy dog look on her face. Rogue rolled her eyes. "OK. Fine."

She turned her attention back to the other woman in the room. "What do you suggest?"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Forty-five minutes later, Rogue had a great ensemble. The dress she selected was a champagne color. It was a Valentino lace detailed dress, and it looked great. It came above her knees, and hugged her form. It had a round neck, but the entire chest area was made of a beautiful see through lace that had a gorgeous pattern through out it. Her long legs were complimented with metallicy Prada caged heels, and a clutch of the same color. The stylist decided against a necklace because she didn't want anything to take away from the lace design on the dress, so she opted for a simple pair of gold drop earrings.

Rogue looked in the mirror. She looked amazing. Her hair was straightened, and her bangs were side swept across her forehead and down the side of her face. She knew she was going on a date with Warren, but an itsy bitsy part of her wanted to look stunning for Remy as well, just to show how good she could clean up.

Her make up was perfect, not to heavy but not extremely light. Her friend took a step back, and inspected her. "I'm so jealous. Why can't I have your body?"

Rogue laughed. "Your fine. I feel bad about wearing this though. I don't want him to think, you know, that I owe him _something_."

Kitty shook her head. "Angel isn't like that. He is a super nice guy. I am so excited for you!" Her look of happiness faltered. "Who knows when I will be able to go on a date again."

Rogue grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "When your man comes back, we will all go out. I will even go shopping with you to pick out a dress."

Kitty's look of sadness quickly changed with the idea of shopping. "Well you better get going, they are all down there waiting on you."

Rogue lost track of time. It was 7:45, and their reservations were at 8:00. "Crap! Kitty you should have told me the time!"

Kitty cracked a smile as Rogue rushed out of the room. "You always want to make him wait a little bit. It makes the 'wow' factor of seeing you dressed up for the first time that much more worth the wait."

She made her way to the stairs, where she saw the small party waiting for her. Kara was dressed in a plain black dress. Rogue felt a little overdressed, but she felt better when she saw that the guys were dressed in suits. Instinctively, her eyes went to Remy first. He looked like a God. He still had the five o'clock shadow on his face, but his hair was pulled back out of his face. Her eyes then moved over to Warren. Wow. He looked really good too. His long blond hair was pulled back, and he was wearing a nice suit as well. He had on a longer dress jacket though, to cover up his wings. She thought that was a shame, because she did like the sight of them.

She took a deep breath in and exhaled before she made her way down the steps.

Remy was the first to notice her. He was in mid conversation with Kara, and stopped abruptly when saw her. Her eyes met his briefly, before Warren greeted her. "Rogue, you look absolutely stunning."

Rogue blushed slightly. "Thanks to you. You really didn't have to do all that for me."

"Yes I did. I have to admit, I have good taste, but that woman has prevented me from making some major style mistakes."

Rogue teased him. "Oh, so you thought I was going to make a fashion mistake?"

Warren laughed. "That would be impossible. You would look good in anything."

The two smiled at each other. Remy couldn't handle seeing _his_ Rogue flirting with another man.

Wait, what was he talking about? She thought he was serious with Kara. She had every right to go on this date. That didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with the situation.

He placed his arm around Kara's waist. "Are we ready to leave?"

He turned his attention to Rogue. "I never took you as the type to take three hours to get ready for a man. I learn something new about you everyday."

Rogue gritted her teeth, but kept a smile on her face. "I'm just full of surprises." She rested her hand on Warren's chest as she turned towards him. "And some are very, _very_ good surprises."

Remy smirked at her. This was going to be a very interesting night.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The restaurant was beautiful. They had just received their meals, and they were enjoying their food.

Rogue noticed Remy staring at her. She decided this would be a good opportunity to mess with him.

She lifted her fork to her lips; slowly entering it into her mouth as she closed her eyes. She slowly withdrew it, softly moaning. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw that Remy was ogling her. She smiled to herself. "I'm sorry, but this is so good."

Remy couldn't believe it. She had made the first attempt to mess with him. He did have to admit that she knew what she was doing. Seeing her slowly withdraw that fork from her mouth caused a stir in his manhood. Game on.

He picked up a strawberry that came with their champagne. "Yes, it is good. Did you know that this small, sensual fruit, like oysters, is an aphrodisiac? It's almost artistic watching a woman being fed this fruit." He slowly lifted the fruit up to Kara's mouth.

"Her eye's become entranced, wanting more from the hand that feeds her."

Kara slowly took a bite, never taking her eyes off of him.

"She has to resist the natural urge to moisten her lips, waiting for that sensual kiss to be placed upon her wanting mouth."

Kara did then lick her lips, leaning in towards Remy.

"While her other set of full, womanly lips have no choice but to moisten at the touch of her lover." He then placed a kiss on her trembling lips.

Rogue could feel the heat radiating from between her legs. She shifted uncomfortably. How could a man talking about a strawberry turn her on? Warren even appeared to be blushing slightly from the other couples display of affection.

Rogue needed a drink. She took her glass of champagne, not before taking out the strawberry, and tossed it back. Gambit noticed her actions, and grinned to himself.

Three glasses later, she was starting to feel slightly tipsy. She had a very low tolerance when it came to alcohol. She knew that she could call forth Wolverine's mutation to avoid the affects of the drink, but she decided she liked the feeling of the buzz.

Kara looked at Rogue, feeling bad that she hadn't said much to the woman during dinner. "So Rogue, I love your dress! Is that a Valentino?"

Rogue giggled, for some unknown reason. "Why, yes it is. Warren bought it for me."

Gambit lifted his eyebrows in Warren's direction, impressed. "Wow _mon ami_, good taste. I knew you were the wine and dine type of guy, but I never pictured you as the type to pick out a dress for a woman for the first date. Very bold move, especially when dealing with a hot tempered southern belle, like that one." He pointed in Rogue's direction with his thumb.

Rogue knew that he was trying to fire her up, but for some reason she didn't care.

"I thought it was sweet." She looked at Warren. He really was a good-looking guy. Why hadn't she noticed before?

She poured herself another glass of champagne. As she took a sip, she noticed couples were starting to slow dance on a little dance floor to the classical tunes of a piano.

Warren saw her looking, and took the hint. He stood, and took her hand. "Rogue, may I have the pleasure?"

She giggled in response, and merely nodded her head. Maybe she needed to slow down on the champagne.

As he led her out to the floor, she turned to see Remy following her figure. She smiled to herself, and leaned into Warren for an added affect.

She wasn't going to lie; she liked the way it felt to be held by a man, even if it was only dancing. Five years ago, she never would have imagined that she would be here, doing this.

He seemed to like the feeling as well. He held her close.

Her eyes suddenly lifted to his. She needed to be kissed. She didn't know if it was the alcohol, or the fact that she had never actually kissed a man. She just felt the urge to feel what it was like.

She lifted her emerald eyes to meet pools of blue. He leaned in towards her mouth with his own.

The moment was interrupted when Remy cut in. He had been dancing with Kara, and saw the whole display before him.

"Can I cut in?"

Warren, of course being the nice guy that he was, agreed. He went to go dance with Kara.

Rogue, for some reason, couldn't get mad. She decided she was having trouble standing straight, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He seemed surprised by her adjustment. He decided that he would be honest with her, even if she had had a little too much to drink. "You can't kiss him _Chère."_

She couldn't help but laugh. "Is that so? Unfortunately, you have no say in the matter."

He smirked. "Yes I do, because you will be kissing me."

She giggled some more. Man she felt good. "Really?"

She tried to think up some snappy remark, but her brain apparently couldn't handle that task at the moment. His hands were so warm.

She slowly let her finger rest in his hair at the base of his neck. She absent mindedly twirled small cyclones of hair between her fingers.

"I wanted it to be you. You're so fucking hot."

He laughed, now knowing that her drinking state had moved from buzzed, to full fledged drunk. "I think it's time to go _Chère."_

She pushed away from him. "Your not the boss of me! I am sooo much stronger then you. I could seriously lift an elephant. Oh my gosh! You should have Kara turn into an elephant, and I can pick her up!"

Gambit knew he was wrong, but he couldn't help but laugh. The girl wasn't making any sense. It was seriously time to go.

She pouted. His smile faded, because he realized that he had genuine feelings for this woman. He could never picture hurting her, and that is exactly what he had done. He knew he had to let her go. He never wanted her to be hurt, and if she were with him that would be unavoidable. He had so many secrets…

He looked into her eyes, which were staring deeply into his. They both stopped their swaying, and he couldn't resist the urge to kiss her. He had always wondered what her mouth would taste like. She had the most beautiful lips. He instinctively moved in towards her.

"Hey Remy, are you ready to go?"

He was awakened from his trance when Kara interrupted their moment.

"Yeah. Lets go."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Warren was leading her up the stairs. She had moved past her drunken stage, and now just wanted to sleep.

They approached her door. She had noticed Kara eyeing her, before entering Remy's room. Was she giving her a dirty look? She turned her door handle. "Want to come in for a minute?"

"Um, sure."

He stood in her room awkwardly for a moment.

"Rogue, I had a great time with you tonight."

She looked up into his baby blues. He was very attractive. She wondered why he was single.

"I had a great time with you too Warren."

He smiled down at her. "We should do this again."

"We definitely should."

She noticed that he had licked his lips. They looked warm and inviting. She knew that Gambit only wanted friendship. She decided it was now or never.

She moved her head up to his lips, and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth, and he kissed her back.

She decided that she liked kissing. Her body had a natural reaction to the kiss, and she again could feel the heat radiating towards her core.

She decided that she wanted to try kissing him more deeply, but he pulled away before she could try.

"I know that I am going to regret this tomorrow, but I am not the type of guy to take advantage of a woman. You had quite a few drinks back there."

She smiled at his sweetness. Little did he know that she used Logan's mutation in the car, and she was no longer drunk. She was simply tired, but she admired the fact that he was a gentleman.

"I'm fine. But I am tired."

He did move in to give her a simple kiss goodnight. "Maybe we could get lunch tomorrow?"

She nodded her head in agreement. He then proceeded to head towards his room.

She smiled to herself as she closed her door behind him. She didn't notice the angry glowing red orbs looking at her from outside her balcony window.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She slowly opened her eyes the next morning. The light was giving her a headache. Apparently, she still had a hangover, despite using Wolverine's mutation. She closed her eyes and rolled over, noticing the shadow of a figure from behind her lids. She quickly opened her eyes, and saw Emma before her. She abruptly sat up. "Emma what the hell, you scared the crap out of me—"

Her words immediately stopped when she saw the other figure in a chair across the room.

The blue woman slowly stood up. "Hello, my daughter."

**A/N: Hello all! I am SOOOOOOOOOO sorry about the wait time. I had a lot of things going on. So what did ya'll think? It's not that action packed, but I'll try to make it a little more exciting in future chapters. So what do you guys think about Mystique showing up? Any ideas? I am a review whore btw, I just love them. The feedback really helps my writing. So please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please review! I see all the hits and alerts, so I know you are out there! I think I am going to start doing little shout outs to awesome reviews that I receive. Or pick one that is creative or sparks my interest. Or one that makes me laugh. One of the above.**

**SOOOOO my first shout out will be to ****KLynn11****, ****who privately messaged me because she couldn't review again on the same chapter. Now that is dedication! Kylynn11, this is my incentive plan we discussed, hopefully it works! Lol.**


	7. New Friends Old Faces

**Hello all my lovely readers! Sorry for the long wait time. I know, I suck. Damn school. Well I hope you guys like this chapter. Also, DO NOT worry. This is and will be a ROMY. With lots and lots of action. I will be taking it up a notch hopefully in the next few chapters. I notice there are quite a few readers now, so give a review. Come on, you know you want to. I would love to hear from ya.**

**So as I mentioned before, I will do little shout outs to reviews that spark my interest from the most recent chapter I post. It doesn't take much. Of course, I love all of them, but here are some of my favs.**

**Sickgirrl****: Remy watching Warren and Rogue kiss was kind of creepy. I had to laugh when you wrote that. I kind of felt the same way.**

**KLynn11****: heart ya! keep the compliments coming! Lol**

**Remy's Muse: ****I do need to work on my update time! I have to admit you made me laugh when you compared your updates to that of a snail mutated with a turtle. It got me thinking of what my slow update critters would be. I think mine would be like the offspring of a sloth and a starfish.**

**Slightlyxjaded: ****I am glad that you noticed my "switching" of points of view. I promise, it is intentional. :) I also appreciate the detailed review and the encouraging words!**

**Thanks to everyone else, and I hope you enjoy the story so far!**

**Here we go….**

**Previously on Testing Boundaries CH 6 :**_She slowly opened her eyes the next morning. The light was giving her a headache. Apparently, she still had a hangover, despite using Wolverine's mutation. She closed her eyes and rolled over, noticing the shadow of a figure from behind her lids. She quickly opened her eyes, and saw Emma before her. She abruptly sat up. "Emma what the hell, you scared the crap out of me—"_

_Her words immediately stopped when she saw the other figure in a chair across the room._

_The blue woman slowly stood up. "Hello, my daughter."_

**Chapter 7**

**New Friends Old Faces**

She couldn't believe her eyes. This had to be a dream, because there was no possible way she was alive and standing in her room. Mystique was trapped in stone form, due to Apocalypse, and Rogue herself had destroyed her. She had pushed the statue over the edge, and watched it break into a million tiny, unfixable pieces. Kurt had been enraged at her because she had done so.

That had happened a while ago. Since then she had grown to learn that her actions were rash and wrong, but at the time they seemed very justifiable. That woman had adopted her, and tricked her into thinking that she truly cared for her, as a mother cares for a daughter. She had used her.

This was a trap. This had to be a trap. She threw back her sheets, and hovered in the air. If either one of the women in her room tried to attack, they would be sorry.

Mystique's eyes widened, and a slow smile began to creep across her face. "So, the rumors are true."

Rogue was ready to strike. "You're supposed to be dead."

Mystique's smile abandoned her face, and a look of rage replaced it. "No thanks to you! My own daughter wanted me dead!"

"You used me! You made me think I was loved! That you cared! It was all a lie! You destroyed me, so I destroyed you, or so I thought."

The blue woman's features softened, ever so slightly. "I did care. Everything I did was for your own protection and good!"

Rogue couldn't handle her present emotional state. Her hair began to whip around her face by an invisible force. "You can stop the shit. I'm not naïve to your games anymore. Everything that you do is for your own benefit."

"That is what you say now, but if you would shut your mouth for a moment you will find that statement is not true."

Emma decided now would be a good time to intervene. "Rogue, she is here because I called her—"

No sooner had the words escaped her mouth, Rogue had her by the throat with one hand, her feet lifted from the ground. She quickly changed into her diamond form.

Rogue had enough. "You know I could crush your neck despite the form your in. If this is another one of your little tricks, I wont let you off so easy this time."

She released her grip and Emma fell to the ground, choking and gasping.

Emma looked up at her. "Ok. I deserved that." She stood up and brushed herself off, trying to regain some of her dignity.

"As I was saying, I called her. She had contacted me shortly before I had arrived, looking for you. She wouldn't give me much detail to why until she spoke with you, but she said it was urgent and I should make her aware of your location so she could warn you."

Rogue couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And you trusted her? She is a con artist!"

Emma nodded her head. "I know. That is why I arranged to meet with her before I agreed to help her. I read her mind. Rogue, she is telling the truth."

Rogue lowered herself to the ground. She felt a little guilty for choking Emma, but not much. She turned her head towards Mystique.

"I will listen to what you have to say, but I also have the right to ask questions. You will answer them honestly. If I think you are withholding any information from me, and I feel it can hurt me or my friends, I will destroy you. Got it?"

Mystique didn't take threats lightly. "You will do no such thing. You are weak when it comes to killing."

Rogue hovered slowly in her direction, until she was directly in front of her face. "You're right. And that's what makes me better than the trash that you are. But I promise, if any harm comes to anybody in this mansion, I will break bones in your body that you didn't even know existed."

Mystique wasn't the type to back down, but she got the message. "I am not here to waste my time with your precious little X-Men. I am here to warn you."

Rogue lowered herself once more. "Explain."

Mystique began to leisurely pace the room. "I have to start from the beginning. Are you not curious to the fact of how I am even alive?"

Rogue was not going to lie. It was the first thought that she had when she saw the bitch. "The thought did cross my mind."

Mystique continued to pace. "I cannot give you much detail, because I do not remember much about how I came back to normal form. I do remember you pushing me over that ledge. I felt the extreme pain when my body broke at the bottom."

She looked in Rogue's direction, and saw no remorse. She continued her story.

"I awoke in a lab. I was strapped down, unable to move. I was so weak…" Her eyes appeared to be thinking hard about the events.

"There were tubes everywhere. I was experimented on like a lab rat. The scientist wore a mask, but I will never forget those eyes, those horrifying eyes. He went by the name of Sinister. There were many more of us. We were put in large cells, like flea infested strays. We prayed for death to escape the hell we were in."

Rogue intervened. "Could you not use your powers?"

She inhaled deeply, and took a seat. "No. We could not. I don't know what he was planning, but I do know he was obsessed with genetics. He wanted to create the ultimate specimen. Word had reached him that there was a homeless man, ranting and raving about finding just that. The rumor was that this man had no sense of who he was, but claimed that the 'woman with emerald eyes and streaks of white' held the answer."

Emma inhaled sharply. "Rogue, that has to be Shaw. I thought you erased everything in his mind?"

"I erased a lot."

Emma was furious. "But not enough!"

Mystique raised her hand, like she was trying to silence two children. "I said it was a rumor. Of course, this intrigued Sinister. He set out to find this man. When he left, I took advantage of the situation. I smashed the guards head against my prison bars when he came close enough, and I made my escape."

Rogue shook her head in disgust. "That's just like you, running to save yourself and helping no one else."

Mystique lost her temper. "I WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT!"

The sudden outburst startled Rogue.

Mystique lowered her voice. "Do you truly think I would leave my fellow mutants to rot?"

Rogue turned away, for the first time feeling guilty.

Mystique continued. "As I was running for my life, I came upon a room, lined with large capsules filled with fluids. Some were empty, and some where not."

Emma abruptly stood. "What are you saying?"

Mystique looked at the blonde woman. "He is cloning."

Emma paced the room. "Why would he be cloning?"

Mystique had time to think of this. She could only think of one reason. "There is only one reason I can think of. Most clones he created either died naturally, or were killed. Therefor he cannot be cloning to create some kind of mutant army. He is experimenting, getting in his practice to create someone like you, my daughter. If he found you, you would be the key ingredient to what he wants and what he needs."

Rogue sat down, taking in all of the information she had just received. It was a lot to process.

Emma quickly turned to Rogue, "We have to find Shaw first. If he regains his memory, the outcome will be horrific. If Sinister gets ahold of him, he can't be harmed, his mutation won't allow it. If he put her back together-," she pointed in Mystique's direction, "—he can give Shaw back his memories."

Rogue knew Emma was right. She turned back towards Mystique. "Where were you kept?"

"In a Frozen wasteland, underground."

Emma moved closer to her. "Where exactly would that be?"

"Somewhere in northern Siberia, in the middle of nowhere. I will do my best to give you the coordinates."

Ok, so this was good. Now they had a starting point to find out some information.

She wouldn't let it show to the other two women that were present in the room, but she was nervous. Why did Shaw remember vague details about her? If this Sinister guy spooked Mystique, she definitely wanted to remain anonymous.

Mystique stood. "So, my daughter, I am not as heartless as you think. I do care about your well being."

She reached out, and rested her hand on Rogue's face. "I see you have gained control."

Rogue backed away from her touch. "Things haven't changed between you and I."

Mystique slowly withdrew her hand back. "Hopefully that will change. It is time for me to take my leave."

With that, she transformed into a raven, and took flight out the balcony doors.

Emma headed towards the door. "I will call a meeting in the war room and inform the others—"

Rogue flew over and blocked the door entrance. "You can't tell them about my powers yet."

Emma's eyes widened in disbelief. "We need the team to go with us—"

Rogue interrupted her. "I know that! Just tell them that we received information about a base kidnapping and cloning mutants or something like that."

Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Why are you so afraid to tell them? It's who you are now! Why are you so ashamed?"

"You're not blind Emma! Look what's happening! A mad man is on a quest to find a homeless guy, based on a rumor about me! All because of my stupid mutation, which by the way YOU caused."

Emma was becoming impatient. "Is that what your worried about? Because you are protected here!"

Rogue had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "I know that! It's not about that! I was always different! I was the pathetic girl that was always out casted because of her powers. I FINALLY belong, and I need to cherish it while it last!"

Emma's facial features softened. "I understand that. Telepaths are the social pariah's of the mutant world. But your powers are now apart of who you are. There is no one here that would reject you because of them. I have only been here for a week and I know this. The sense of family here and the closeness of everyone is nauseating."

Rogue released a small smile. "I know. But I want everything to stay the same, just a little bit longer. I'll tell them when the time is right. I promise. By the way, did you actually just try to do something nice by telling me all that?"

Emma smirked. "Yes. And don't get used to it."

She quickly placed her fingers at her temples. _All team members please meet me in the war room as soon as possible._

She lowered her hands. "We better get going."

Rogue stood there awkwardly. "You're not going to tell them, are you?"

"No. That's your job. I will tell them as much of the truth that I can. You do realize though that the sooner you tell them, the easier it will be for them to process."

She knew Emma was right. Logan had practically told her the same thing. "I know."

"Well as long as you know. Let's get going."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The team members quickly came in and took their seats. As Remy entered, he glanced at the empty chair next to Rogue, and chose to sit on the opposite side. She had to admit, she was slightly disappointed. She thought she had detected some emotion towards her the other night when they all went out. Apparently, she had been incorrect.

Emma had just briefed the team about the information she had received.

Scott was the first to speak up. "Emma, I am the team leader and I should have been consulted first. How do you know this information is accurate?"

"I apologize Cyclops. I didn't know how your fiancé would feel about us meeting privately, especially after the thoughts you projected loud and clear when I first arrived."

Rogue held her breath. She looked over at their fearless leader. Did she actually detect a blush?

The normally soft-spoken Jean narrowed her eyes in Emma's direction. "He would never do anything with you. And we are questioning where you received your information because YOU apparently are the untrustworthy one, according to Rogue."

Rogue shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She looked at Emma with an apologetic look. She decided she would have to address that little issue.

"Jean, you're right. Emma betrayed me in the worse possible way—" She looked at the blonde woman, and saw that her brow furrowed in a very unattractive, very un-Emma like way.

"—but since then, we have made up. I would even say that we are almost friends." She looked in Emma's direction and smiled at the new awkward expression on the white queen's face.

Jean was still starring daggers in Emma's direction. She was upset, because the little comment Emma made earlier was correct. Jean detected Scott's lust for the new woman. She couldn't help it. Her fiancé was mentally broadcasting it rather clearly. She would have to have a little talk with him later. "Rogue, I am glad that your opinion changed, but that still doesn't tell me where she got her information."

Emma smirked. "Lets just say, a little birdie told me."

Scott uncomfortably cleared his throat. "Emma, we need to make sure its coming from a reliable source. We can't just whisk our team off on a whim."

At this point, Rogue stood up. "The source is Mystique."

There was a gasp throughout the room.

Jean looked at Rogue like she was a patient in a mental ward. "Rogue….Mystique is dead…"

"She _was_ dead. She was put back together somehow."

Remy eyed Rogue suspiciously. Her hands were fumbling together. She was looking around too much. He had years of training with the guild, and he was not just a thief of goods, but for information as well. He could read any person like a book, especially woman. Being an empath also helped quite a bit. That was one of the things he loved about the woman speaking in front of him. Her standoffish nature, and mysterious appeal lured him to her. Yet here she was, up there showing all the classical, obvious signs of someone withholding information.

He casually leaned back in his seat. "So Roguey, lets just say she did give up the info. Why?"

She raised her eyebrows in his direction. If anyone trusted her, it should have been him. What the hell was his deal? "First off, don't call me Roguey. She came to warn us. He is a threat to all mutants."

Kara spoke up for the first time. She had a turn of feelings towards the southern woman standing in front of her. She had been so blind. Remy had briefly mentioned once (when he had been off on one of his drinking charades with Wolverine), that he used to love a woman that left the mansion. She thought he was just acting like, well, like a drunk person. It didn't hit her until the other night that he may have been telling the truth. And the truth was a seducer, starring at her with emerald eyes. "Why would one mutant be a threat to all mutants? Do you hear yourself? You sound ridiculous."

Wow. That was the last reaction she expected from the raven-haired woman. They weren't best friends, but Kara had always been over the top nice to her. What was wrong with everyone? And did Kara just call her ridiculous? Oh HELL no.

"Do I Kara? Because throughout history, there has never been a leader or dictator that was a threat to his kind? Is that what your saying? Maybe you should be sitting in with the students instead of teaching them."

Kara abruptly stood, and let out a low growl that would challenge Wolverine's. Remy grabbed her. He was mad at Rogue, but he didn't want her mauled to death. He looked up at Rogue, and she didn't look frightened, not one little bit. She actually looked bored.

Rogue had enough. She decided to tell the truth, well partially. If they didn't believe her, fine. She would go by herself. "We have to go because he is cloning. We don't know what for."

Emma was just leaning against the table. She was enjoying the show. Rogue looked at her and sent her a telepathic message. _Um hello! Earth to Emma! Would you back me up here?_

Emma pouted. She loved the drama. "What she says is true. About everything. And by the way, all of the questioning shows a large amount of distrust. I didn't know that's how the notorious X-Men functioned."

Jean had about as much as she could handle from the blonde woman. "Of course we trust her! It's Mystique we don't trust!" She looked towards Rogue. "We would never distrust you. You're family."

Rogue's heart cringed a bit. She always had a sense of it, but no one had ever actually said it out loud. And yet she still couldn't confide in them about her powers.

Until this point, Wolverine had been silently observing from the corner. He knew Rogue would never put any of them in danger. He pushed himself off of the wall. "Stripes, I'm in. Where we headed to?"

"Siberia."

The gruff man raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly my dream vacation spot, but I'll be there. When do we leave?"

Rogue lifted the corner of her mouth. She knew she could always count on him to have her back.

Emma intervened. "Tomorrow morning. The sooner we arrive, the better."

Kitty unexpectedly jumped up. "I'm going. Oh my gosh, I need to shop for layering. Lots and lots of layering." She quickly left the room to start packing.

Rogue made a mental note to ask Kitty what that was about. She had known Kitty for years, and they both had one thing in common. They hated the cold.

Emma addressed the remainder team members. "Iceman is on a side mission, and Cannonball is still ill. Anyone else?"

Remy stood. He had nothing better to do. "Remy will go."

Kara abruptly stood as well. "If he goes, so do I."

Rogue wanted to punch her. She really REALLY wanted to punch her.

Warren was the next to speak. "Count me in as well."

Emma looked towards Scott and Jean. Scott shifted under her stare. "We can't, we have to leave to meet Jeans parents to discuss the wedding."

Emma almost snorted. "I'm glad to see you have your priorities straight." She turned on her heels and exited the room, leaving the couple feeling rather guilty.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Rogue went to the kitchen. She was starved and pissed, which was a lethal combination. She opened the fridge and observed the contents inside, and was rather disappointed.

"I looked already. There is nothing good."

Rogue jumped. She turned around to see Warren smiling at her. "Warren! You scared me!" She placed her hand on her chest for a dramatic effect.

He couldn't help but smile. She was so cute. Well she was more than cute. Many residents of the mansion would say she was drop dead gorgeous. "Sorry about that. But you're not going to find anything of nutritional value in there."

She smirked at his comment. "Well, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well I did say I would take you out to lunch today."

She had completely forgotten about that. "Oh sure. Do I have to dress up? Or can I go like this?"

"What you have on is just fine. We aren't going that far anyway."

She raised her eyebrow. "We're not?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

He grabbed her hand, and led her outside.

All of the sudden, he lifted her bridal style, and flew them both onto the roof. There on the rooftop was a little blanket laid out with two wine glasses and a basket.

She was surprised at the layout.

He liked that look on her face. "I figured no one would bother us up here."

After she was full, she laid on her back, stretching like a lioness after the hunt and the feed.

Warren cleared his throat. "So Rogue. Where exactly do we stand?"

Rogue shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I really like you. And I think you like me. At least I hope so. I would really like us to be exclusive."

Rogue didn't know what she wanted. On one hand, she still had strong feelings for a certain ruby-eyed man. She couldn't help it. He was her first love, even though they never had an actual relationship. On the other hand, she had this great, charming, attractive man who wanted to be with her. She had to be realistic. Even if she wanted something more with Remy, she couldn't just waltz right up to him and ask. He not only was taken, but also seemed to be pissed at her. The right choice was obvious. "I like you Warren. A lot actually. I've never done this before, you know, the whole relationship thing. But I guess it can't hurt to try it out."

Warren looked like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. "I am so glad you said that. It would have been really awkward to fly you down off of the roof if you said no."

Rogue laughed. Of course she knew she could fly down on her own, but he didn't. She allowed him to glide her back down to the ground, and gently released her. He lowered his lips to hers and gave her a tender peck on her mouth. He reluctantly released his hold.

"I have to pack my things. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

She nodded her head. She felt guilty. Why did she think of Remy when he kissed her?

Remy had gone down to the kitchen to get some space. Kara had been on him like white on rice, ever since the double date disaster. He couldn't wait to break it off. His father promised him the deal was almost done.

He grabbed some ingredients out of the fridge, when he happened to look up and see a very unwelcomed sight.

There was Rogue out on the grounds kissing Warren. A heat within him started to rise, and a new feeling emerged that he wasn't accustomed to. He was jealous. Just the sight made him want to toss a card in the winged man's direction, and blow him to pieces.

He saw Warren fly off, and Rogue started to head back inside with a goofy grin on her face. He should be the one to make her grin like that.

She walked inside, and looked shocked when she noticed him. "Were you watching me?"

Remy smirked. "Believe me, it was a pathetic sight I did not wish to see. The man can't even kiss you properly."

Rogue knew she shouldn't take the bait. She should be the bigger person, and just turn the other direction. But he was definitely fishing, and she wanted to see what for. "What the hell does that mean?"

He took a step closer to her, and she took a step back. "Well, I know for a fact, that if you kissed Gambit, you would never want it to end."

He took another step forward, and she of course took another step back.

"Is that so swamp rat? You really think you're something, don't you?"

He took another step towards her, and she found herself backed against the wall. He leaned in to her ear, and she could feel his warm breathe on her neck. It sent chills down her sides, and brought forth that warm heat between her legs.

He grinned to himself, knowing the effect he was having on her. He traced his finger down her side, and rested it on her hip. "I know much MUCH more than you could ever imagine, and one day you will be underneath me, screaming my name and experiencing the greatest pleasure of your life."

She closed her eyes, and began to breath heavily. She quickly opened them coming to her senses. She was in a brand spankin' new relationship, and they were wide open in the kitchen. She abruptly pushed him away from her. "Dream on Cajun"

He smiled that sexy, seductive smile. "You say that, but I'm an empath, remember?"

She huffed at him, and made her way to her room. She needed a cold shower. Now.

**XXXXXXXXX**

The next morning, Rogue was on the jet with her other teammates headed for their chilly destination.

Warren was seated next to her, as well as Kitty. Kitty had been overly chipper that morning. She even brought donuts and orange juice for everyone. She still had to find out what that was all about.

Right across from her sat Remy and Kara. Kara seemed focused on ignoring her, and Remy couldn't seem to take his eyes off of her.

Well wasn't this fun. She hated being looked at by him. Every time she looked into his eyes, she melted. She felt frustrated. Was it possible for a virgin to be sexually frustrated? She was starting to think so.

Wolverine was stationed up front.

Emma had the jet on autopilot, and seemed amused by the whole situation. She could sense the tension in the air.

Some time later, Emma spoke up to break the awkward silence.

"We have almost reached Mystique's coordinates. We will arrive in about five minutes. Everyone suit up."

They layered their clothing, and exited the jet when it landed.

They walked outside, and were greeted by the harsh cold winds.

Rogue looked around her and saw…nothing. There was literally nothing in all directions.

Kara raised her voice over the sound of the freezing wind. "Great job Rogue. We came to find the abominable snow man apparently, because nobody in their damn mind would live out here."

Rogue ignored her, and addressed Emma. "Mystique said it was underground."

She looked in Kitty's direction. "Kitty? Would you do the honors?"

Kitty gave a mock solute. "I'm on it."

The petite woman quickly disappeared within the earth. The others stood there for what seemed an eternity. Wolverine became impatient. "If she doesn't come back up in the next five seconds, I'm gonna slash my way down there."

Luckily, Kitty chose that moment to pop back up on the surface with a worried expression on her face. "Oh my gosh, you guys have to see this"

Kitty quickly phased the others down into a very large underground building. The walls were made of a steel like material, and there was scientific equipment everywhere, most of it broken.

Kitty spoke up. "It was pitch black down here. I hade to wire the lighting system"

Emma walked around; trying to find notes, proof, just something to give them any hints or indications of the mad man's plans. She quickly became frustrated when her efforts became pointless.

Rogue looked up ahead, and noticed a door. As she was about to turn the handle, Wolverine grabbed her arm. "You might want me to go first kid. The smell behind that door is horrible."

Rogue knew she could handle anything, but Logan was trying to look out for her, so she let him.

As they entered, the smell hit her like a ton of bricks. They walked into a large area, lined with cells. She looked in the nearest one, and saw a girl that couldn't have been older then twelve. The smell of death was all around her frail form; her eyes rolled back and glazed over.

She was going to be sick. She couldn't help but think of how Ms. Marvel looked when she had absorbed the life out of her.

She swayed slightly, but she soon felt a pair of strong arms around her shoulders. She half expected it to be Warren, but was surprised when her jade eyes met a pair of crimson ones.

"It's ok _Chère. _I've got you." She couldn't help but lean against him. He was familiar and comfortable. He held her face in his chest, and she could hear his heart beat.

She was so thankful that he was there for her. She needed that. She straightened herself up. "I'm ok. Thanks Remy."

He didn't make jokes. The situation at hand was too fucked up at the current moment.

She looked over and saw Kara giving her a death glare.

She could care less.

They heard movement at the far end of the room. The team rushed down to the last cell, and saw something they were not expecting to see.

The cell held a large man, huddled in a corner. He was slouched over, but he was alive. Logan immediately slashed through the bars.

Kitty ran up ahead, and surprised everyone even more when she burst into tears. "PIOTR!" She quickly ran in and held the man to her. "I knew something was wrong when you didn't call. I knew I would find you!"

The man slowly lifted his head to meet her face. "Am I dead? I prayed so long, so so long…." The much larger man embraced Kitty and began to sob in her chest. The others had many questions, but they did not want to interfere with the tender moment.

It didn't take Rogue long to figure it out. She recognized the man known as Colossus right away. Gambit used to "work" with him. This was the guy Kitty was seeing.

Rogue gently rested her hand on Kitty's shoulder. "You should get him to the jet sugar. He needs to get warm and get some food in his belly. Angel will help lift him."

Warren immediately helped the larger man up, and all three were gone in moments.

Rogue looked over at Remy. He looked enraged.

He was mad. The man known as Colossus was a good person. The most decent out of most of the men he had met. The idea of him caught and caged up like an animal made him livid.

Rogue noticed another set of doors up ahead. She wasn't looking forward to finding out what was behind them.

She reluctantly approached them and turned the handle.

What was behind the doors shocked them all. They were in some kind of HUGE warehouse, and there were capsules lining the walls.

Emma walked in, and noticed a trash can in the far corner full of paper. She quickly dumped out the contents, and began searching for something, anything. She was surprised when she found a name. The name was listed on some type of funding list.

It held the name of William Stuart. Who worked for Trask. Who was funding Sinister for some reason…Jackpot. She finally found something of use.

She waived the paper in the air. "I found something!" But the other's seemed too entranced with their surroundings. She walked over to meet the rest.

Rogue was still gazing at the hundreds of capsules. "I guess this is where he cloned. And then killed. What the fuck is wrong with this guy?"

Gambit commented, "You took the words right out of my mouth."

They continued to walk. Emma heard something. "Do you hear that humming sound?"

Wolverine spoke up. "I've heard it the whole time we've been down in this shit hole. I thought it was the generator for the lights."

Emma paused, trying to hear better. "No, it's coming from one of these things."

She quickly went through the many rows of capsules, before she came to an abrupt stop before one. It had a faint glow to it, and was generating noise, almost like the sound of a fish aquarium.

Rogue quickly followed her, and saw a very quick change in Emma.

Emma looked up in the capsule; a look of pure shock on her face. She quickly fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. She began to sob uncontrollably.

Rogue rushed over to see what was wrong. She looked into the capsule, and felt sick.

The capsule held a man. He looked like he was sleeping. He still had the mask on for oxygen and was encased in a rich, light blue fluid. He had beautiful blonde hair.

Rogue recognized him immediately from the time she read Emma's mind.

The man was Christian. Emma's brother.

**To be continued...**


	8. Big Mistake

**Hey again! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! Keep em' coming! Well I am not going to bother you with a long A/N. I just hope you guys like the action. Again, there is ROMY ahead. Also, this fix has been and will be rated M. Considered yourself warned. :) Review and let me know what you think! It makes me update faster when you guys/gals do. Hint* Hint***

The jet ride home was a silent one. Piotr's head rested in Kitty's lap, while she slowly ran her fingers through his charcoal colored hair. After he warmed up and ate what he could, some of his color started to come back within his cheeks. He was still very weak.

Rogue felt the need to ask him so many questions. How did he become a prisoner to Sinister? She already figured that he couldn't use his powers, because Mystique had mentioned that all of the mutants had their powers inhibited while in Sinister's death camp. Mystique hadn't mentioned anything about collars, so they must have been shot up by the same inhibitor that Shaw used on herself and Ms. Marvel.

She looked down at the piece of paper within her hands. Emma had found it. The wadded up piece of trash held a lot of valuable information. It was proof that a Trask member by the name of William Stuart was donating quite a bit of money to help aid Sinister's unknown cause. It was an odd coincidence that Shaw had also used not only an inhibitor formula on her, but also an enhancement formula created by Trask enterprises as well. He said that he had murdered the scientist who created it, but could he have been lying? Could he have said that to make sure any ties back to Trask were severed? She knew they were tied somehow, because one of Shaw's captives was under that mad doctor's care, and he was in this very jet right now. She would definitely have to converse with Emma about the whole complex situation. Speaking of Emma…

Rogue turned her head towards her newfound friend. The normally composed woman looked a mess. Her eyes were blood shot from her grief. She held the hand of a man lying down on a makeshift cot.

It hadn't taken them very long to release the blonde haired man from his liquid prison. They had debated if they should take the whole capsule with him contained, but decided that the jet didn't have enough power to keep the capsule up and running. They wouldn't have been able to figure it out anyway. Even Kitty had looked confused when she was confronted with all the different wires held within the machine. Wolverine did the honors of slashing through the thick glass to release its contents. They immediately did what they could for the limp body that fell out. The man was far from conscious. He was in a comatose state.

Rogue would never be able to feel or understand the amount of confusion that Emma had to be feeling at this moment. Rogue didn't have to listen to her friend's thoughts to get it.

Emma didn't know if the hand she held belonged to her real brother or not. Meaning, she didn't know if it was Christian, or a clone. None of them knew what to expect. If he was a clone, would he be preprogramed with all of Christian's thoughts and memories? And if he was a clone, was that her actual brother that was murdered? Her heart went out to Emma.

"Don't feel sorry for me. I hate it."

Rogue knew she was probable mentally broadcasting loudly. "I don't think that's possible. " She didn't know what else to say. What else _could_ she say?

Emma continued to stare at the man in front of her. "Its so weird-" She looked back up at the two toned haired woman. "—seeing someone who you think is dead."

Rogue went and sat down next to her. "I know." Her statement was simple, yet true.

The jet landed 30 minutes later. They had called ahead and spoke with Jean, to make sure that she would be there when they landed. They had two men that needed her attention.

When they landed, both men were rushed to the med bay, aided by Warren.

Emma went with her 'brother', and Kitty refused to leave Piotr's side.

Rogue gathered their belongings from the jet. As she stepped out, she noticed that Remy was waiting for her. He rushed forward, and grabbed their things. "Let me get these _Chère. _You've had a long day."

She appreciated the gesture. "We all have."

The two walked in silence towards the mansion's entrance.

Kara poked her head out from the door. She didn't like what she saw. The two were a little too close for her comfort. "Remy, are you coming?"

Remy about had it with Kara's jealousy. "In a moment. I will be up shortly."

When the dark haired woman didn't move, Remy lost some of his patience. "Why are you still here?"

Kara's face went through a serious of expressions. It went from hurt, to offended, to enraged. She slammed the door, and Rogue could almost hear her stomping away inside.

Gambit threw his head back, and let out a loud sigh. "I'll be paying for that comment the rest of the evening."

Rogue smirked in his direction. "It was kind of harsh. I don't know how I would feel if Warren would have said that to me when he was walking with another woman."

It was Remy's turn to smirk. "He would be crazy to want to be with someone else while with you."

Rogue suddenly dropped her bags. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Gambit was a little more than confused. "Doing what?"

"The flirting! Its so…so...f_ucking _confusing!" She didn't want to play their little games anymore. She needed answers. "One day you're trying to kiss me, the next day your pissed at me for some unknown reason. Don't you realize what you're doing to me?"

Her emotional day was getting to her. "I can't keep having these conflicting feelings between us. I can't take it any more! When you held me at that lab, it felt so right! I know you felt the same! I am falling for you all over again."

Remy continued to intensely stare at her in silence.

She was loosing her patience. "Say something!"

He quickly pushed her up towards the nearest wall, and crashed his mouth onto hers. Her legs naturally lifted, circling themselves around his waste. Her mouth tasted of cherries, and he couldn't get enough of her sweet lips. They both kissed each other with the strongest need and desire.

She grabbed his hair firmly within her fingers, not able to bring him close enough to her. His natural scent was the most enticing smell she had ever encountered. She allowed his tongue to enter her mouth, caressing her own in a passionate dance. She tightened her legs, feeling his manhood press firmly against her core.

His heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest. For the first time since their friendship blossomed into something more, she was confessing her _real _feelings to him. She was baring her soul. This moment was heavenly and felt so _right._ But then he came back to his senses. He couldn't break it off with Kara because of the guild's business. Not yet anyway. He had to stick with it. If the guild became powerful enough to take over the assassin's, his exile would be lifted. She would never understand. She seemed so happy and content, and he was going to be the bastard to fuck it up.

He released his mouth from hers, and slowly lowered her to the ground. The look of confusion on her face was enough to break his heart.

He leaned his forehead in to touch hers. He knew he was going to regret the next words that he whispered for the rest of his life. "Rogue, I do care for you. More than you will ever know, but…" He could barely let the words leave his mouth.

He didn't have to. She finished his sentence for him. "-but you're with Kara."

She took a step away from him. He already missed their closeness. He couldn't even nod his head. He felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know how she was going to react.

She looked down at her feet, and back up at him. Her eyes looked like they were threatening to overflow with tears. He hated himself for making her upset.

She wiped at her eye with a delicate finger. "You must think I'm pretty pathetic, huh?"

Her comment surprised him. "Far from it _Chère._"

"Please don't call me that Remy."

She quickly picked up her bags, and headed inside.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When he arrived in his room, he wasn't surprised to see Kara waiting for him. He didn't say a word to her. Instead, he headed straight towards his bathroom to take a shower. He was rather annoyed to find that she was still there when he got out. To him, that woman represented the final crushing blow to his one chance of being happy.

He attempted to get dressed in silence.

"Well?"

He turned towards her. "Well what?"

"You aren't going to apologize to me?"

"Apologize for what? For walking with another woman?"

"Yes!"

Remy couldn't bear this much longer. "You act like a child. Why do you think Gambit left you for those other woman?"

At his harsh words, Kara began to cry.

He felt guilty. He didn't like to see anyone cry, especially because of him. "Look, I'm sorry. It's just that—"

"Do you love her?" She cut him off.

He contemplated her words. It was easy for him to answer her truthfully. "Yes."

At his words, she began to cry even harder. She stood up and began to shout. "I would do anything for you! Can't you see that I love you so much? You have put me through so much shit!"

She was referring to when he had cheated on her. She would despise him if she knew how elaborate the guild's plans were.

She continued to cry. "Isn't there the smallest piece of you that cares for me too?"

Before Rogue had arrived, Remy did care for Kara. But her actions were showing the kind of person that she really was. He realized he cared for her as a friend, a fuck, but nothing more. He didn't reply, and was thankful when she continued.

"Are you going to leave me for her?"

He would never be able to get with Rogue. Not after today. The thought was almost unbearable. "No."

In the next moment Kara placed her mouth on his. She grabbed his towel from his waste and threw it on the floor, kissing him desperately.

He couldn't find any spark of passion. No lust. No love. His thieving façade took over. If this is how she wanted it, he would give it to her. He roughly grabbed her wrist, and threw her down on the bed. She looked up at him and smirked.

He would wipe that grin off of her face.

He abruptly shoved the length of him in her mouth, and began to thrust at a feverish pace.

She gagged with each thrust he gave her. "You can do better then that _petite_. I can't even fit myself halfway in your mouth."

He again slammed himself to her face. She tried to take the length of him, and found it to be impossible. She again gagged at the size of him.

He grabbed her arm and flipped her onto her knees, where he swiftly entered her, and began to thrash inside of her. He didn't want to look at her face.

Normally he would enter slowly, allowing her body to get acclimated to his size.

Not tonight. He was angry. Mad at himself. Mad at her. He continued to thrust as he felt her cry out beneath him. He could feel the walls of her slick center grab at him, and release every time she would climax. After her sixth time of screaming his name, he pulled out and released himself onto her lower back.

He rolled over, and felt dead. He hated himself. He hated this. Most of all he hated his father for asking him to do this.

Kara was oblivious to his negative thoughts. She rolled over towards him, drenched in sweat and panting. "That was amazing. I won't be able to walk for a week." She got up and began to dress herself.

She kissed his cheek, and made her way to his door. "I'll see you tomorrow. I need to go take a shower. Love you."

As she shut the door behind her, Remy sat up. He needed to take another shower. He wanted her off of him. In every way.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Rogue was exhausted. It had been a very long day, and she had class tomorrow. She made her way to her room. As she turned to go down the hallway, she ran right into the last person she wanted to see.

Kara snapped at her. "Watch where you're going!"

Rogue had enough of her. "You watch it!"

Kara stepped up, getting in her face. "Is that a threat?"

Rogue could practically hear the growl in her speech. "You need to back up."

Kara shoved her, causing her to stumble back slightly. BIG mistake.

Rogue grabbed the woman by the throat, and shoved her just a tad bit harder then she meant to, which meant Kara made it halfway down the hall.

Kara slowly stood up, her hand on her throat. She was surprised by the amount of strength the home wrecker produced. When she looked up, Rogue was curious to find out why she was smiling.

"He will never leave me for you. You're pathetic. As a matter of fact, he told me he would never leave me, and then he fucked me to oblivion."

Rogue would never admit it, but those words hurt more than any blow Kara could have given her.

Right as Rogue was about to attack, Jean jumped in between the two. They were causing quite a commotion. "Ladies, control yourselves!"

Kara pushed past Jean, heading towards her room. Jean turned back to Rogue. "I heard what she said to you. I think I would have done the same thing."

Rogue remained silent, and made her way past the red head. When she entered her room she undressed herself, and took a quick shower. When she got out she put on an oversized t- shirt. She laid her head on her pillow, and silently wept until sleep overtook her.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The next few weeks went by rather quickly. Rogue did her best to concentrate with Logan while teaching, but she found the task almost impossible. Too many things were on her mind, and she made an extreme attempt to make sure that the swamp rat bastard was not one of them.

She was concerned for Emma. She had barely seen her in the past week.

Emma refused to leave the med bay. Jean did everything that she could, but her efforts were in vain. The man was still in a comatose state.

Both telepaths had entered his mind. Both were disappointed to find no trace of any activity. Jean said when she entered she was surrounded by nothing but darkness and there was not one hint that the man on the bed would come to. Which meant that Emma still had no idea if the guy was a clone or not.

When Jean had gently mentioned the idea of pulling the plug, Emma went berserk. She jumped from her chair and attempted to strangle the red head. The only thing that saved Jean was her telekinesis and Rogue.

There was also the little fact that they still needed to investigate this William Stuart character, but trying to locate the guy seemed to be more difficult than they had anticipated. He must be pretty important in the Trask Enterprises ranks, because they were doing an awful lot to keep him anonymous and safe. They had been trying to locate the man since they came back.

At least they had one good outcome out of the whole situation. They had a new team member.

Piotr Rasputin, a.k.a Colossus, had joined the X-men. After a few days in the med bay, Jean released him. Kitty was ecstatic. Rogue liked him well enough, but they were such an odd couple. They were opposites in almost every way. Even when Piotr was not in his steel form, he was still every bit of 6'7. Kitty was lucky if she was even considered 5'5. Everyone who knew Kitty knew that she had a love for shopping, reality TV, and gossip magazines. Piotr was artistic, shy, and super quiet.

Rogue didn't know if that had anything to due with the fact that he was held prisoner at Sinister's lab or not. When he was able to talk, they discovered that he had only been there for a week, but to him it seemed like an eternity. He had been working for Magneto. Apparently, he had heard of the base as well and wanted it destroyed. There was one big difference between him and the X-Men though. When one of their team members goes missing, they find them. He apparently wasn't that concerned about Piotr, because he left him there to rot. He was due to be operated on, but then Sinister abandoned everything, including the large metal man. She thought that had something to do with Mystique escaping. He had to abandon ship to avoid being caught.

She was glad for the extra help though. They would need it.

There also was the fact that Kitty obviously was head over heels for the guy. And she didn't know for sure, but she thought that he reciprocated those feelings.

Huh. Guess opposites do attract.

She glanced at the clock. It was almost 5 o'clock, and she had a date with Warren. Well kind of. He hired a chef to make them a private dinner on the grounds.

Things were actually going really good between the two of them. He treated her great. Actually more than great. He placed her on a pedestal, which was something that she just could not get used to.

Tonight she was going to ask him something. She was sure it was going to make the situation uncomfortable. She had to ask him to get in touch with his father.

It wasn't an unknown fact that he and his father were kind of on the outs. But she needed Warren to ask him about this William Stuart individual. His father was a powerful man, and was a known anti-mutant demonstrator, despite the fact that his own son was a mutant. This ironically meant that he himself carried the recessive mutant gene.

She knew Angel was touchy on the subject. She quickly got dressed for the occasion.

As she made her way to her destination, she saw Kara in the kitchen hovering around Remy like an annoying fly. She hadn't spoken to him since their little conversation in the jet hangar. She briefly met his eyes, noticing how empty they appeared. She knew she should act her age, but her feelings and pride were hurt. She finally confessed her feelings to him, and he turned her down flat, right after he gave her the best kiss of her life. Talk about confusing! Why was she mad at him though? He had a girlfriend, and she was the other woman trying to destroy them. There was also the tiny fact that she too was taken. But him and Kara just seemed so wrong together. She wouldn't admit it to anybody else, but she missed him.

As she walked past the couple, she heard Kara snort and make some snide comment that she couldn't quite catch. It was amazing how much that woman had changed. In danger room, she almost had to reveal her powers twice to put Kara in her place.

She shook the negative thoughts from her head and made her way outside to meet Warren.

When she arrived, she was excited to see a beautiful table set up. She was starving.

She sometimes felt embarrassed at the amount of food she could consume. She had always had a very healthy appetite, but ever since she gained her additional powers it had increased. She was lucky. Thanks to Ms. Marvel's indestructible ability, her metabolism was through the roof.

Warren pulled out her chair, and she dove right in. He smiled in her direction.

"I'm glad to see you enjoy it."

She blushed slightly and wiped her mouth with the cloth napkin. "It's so good. I don't know where you find these chefs, but they definitely need a raise." She put another forkful of food in her mouth.

They had some pleasant light conversation. Mostly about boring stuff, like how the day went, and what movie they should see soon.

Thankfully, Warren switched the conversation to the previous mission. "So, have there been any leads on William Stuart?"

She was relieved that he was the one to bring it up first. "Actually, I'm glad that you brought that up. I need to ask a huge favor of you."

"Sure. Anything."

"I kind of need you to ask for your dad's help."

At her words, Warren lowered his fork from his mouth. "Oh."

She continued. "Its just that we can't find anything on this Stuart guy. Trask is doing a lot to make sure that their big guns stay hidden. I was thinking that your father could maybe use his ranks and connections to find out some information."

Warren had a disappointed look on his face. "And what makes you think that he would help us?"

Rogue winced, but she knew her answer had to be said. "If he doesn't agree to help, you could always threaten to reveal yourself."

Warren's father knew that he was a mutant, but the public didn't. He would look like a fool if his own son were outed as a mutant.

Warren stared down at his plate. "I guess I have no choice."

She hated that she was putting him in this situation, but they desperately needed the help. "I'm sorry, but we don't know what else to do."

Warren lifted his eyes. "We?"

"Yeah. I talked with Scott about it to get the OK—"

"Get the OK?"

She couldn't be sure, but did she detect anger in his voice? That wasn't very like him.

He stood up. "You could at least of talked to me first before you went to him. I'm not some mission Rogue. I'm your boyfriend!"

She started to get defensive. "I know that. I just mentioned it and he thought it was a good idea. It's not a big deal."

"Well good, because I won't do it."

Ok, he was being ridiculous. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "So let me get this straight. Your not gonna help your team, or the mutant population, because your mad at me?"

He crossed his arms as well. "Its not even about that. It's about us. You have been so distant lately. Every time we touch you always make an excuse to leave."

She saw where this was going. "So basically what your telling me is that unless I screw you, you wont do it."

He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated. "No, don't be ludicrous! I dream of us being intimate, but I would never use that to my advantage! The whole reason I even joined the team is because I thought that you would be here. I just thought I meant enough to you that you would at least be considerate and speak with me first, especially about a sensitive topic like that."

Rogue stood from her chair and made her way over to him. "Warren I'm sorry. I do care its just that—"

She didn't get to complete her sentence, because Warren's lips were soon on hers. She would never get used to the sensation of kissing. She enjoyed it, but ever since Remy kissed her, Warren just didn't compare. Not by a long shot.

He pulled back and held her hands in his. "Rogue, I'm falling in love with you."

She stood there dumb founded. She didn't know how to react. Here was a decent man confessing feelings for her, and she was still in love with another. "I…I...I…"

She was stammering like an idiot. What could she say?

He slowly released her hands, a look of pure disappointment on his face. "Oh. I see that those feelings are one sided. I'm sorry to have wasted your time this evening. I'm going to my room." He took off to the sky.

Rogue had to sit down. What the hell was wrong with her? She felt horrible. She looked down at all the food. She decided that she wasn't hungry at the moment. She decided it shouldn't be wasted, and preceded to make her way towards the med bay.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Emma sat in a chair by the hospital bed. She had a book in her hand, and had read the same sentence at least ten times. She sighed and looked up at the man before her. He had some growth on his face. She decided that she would have to shave him tomorrow. Christian always had a squeaky clean appearance.

Christian.

It was weird calling the blonde man that, because it very well may not be him. She looked at her reflection in the window. She looked horrible. She really needed to take a shower, but she didn't want to let him out of her sight ever again.

She stood and stretched, and was surprised to hear someone entering the med bay. The only person to really check on her was Rogue, and she was on a date with Warren.

She was even more surprised to see that the person who entered was Scott.

She self-consciously ran her fingers through her hair. He looked good. "I swear if you came down here for your fiancé to try to convince me to pull the plug, I'll—"

Scott put his hands up in mock surrender. "No! Jean doesn't even know I'm down here."

Emma raised an eyebrow.

Scott blushed slightly. 'I mean, not that I would have to keep information from her or anything like that."

He awkwardly shoved his hands in his pockets. Emma thought he was kind of cute, the way he would get nervous around her.

Both just stood there for a moment. "Well can I help you? I doubt that you just came down here to stand around."

"Oh. I uh, was actually just checking on you to make sure you're ok."

Ok, she was not expecting that reply. "Oh. Well. Thank you. I'm OK, I guess."

The two stared at each other momentarily. She felt self-conscious under his gaze. She didn't like that she couldn't see his eyes behind his visor. What if he was looking at her with disgust? She knew she looked horrible. She probably didn't smell that great either. "I wish you wouldn't look at me. I look like a complete mess."

"No you don't. You always look pretty."

Why did she get butterflies in her stomach when he said that? She was acting like a schoolgirl. She awkwardly grabbed a piece of her long platinum hair and began to mess with it between her fingers. "Oh. Thank you."

He smiled warmly, but the moment was ruined when Rogue came busting through the automatic doors. "Hey sugar, I brought you some food. And boy I have to tell you some stuff that you wouldn't believe—" She stopped when she saw Scott standing in there. "Hey Scott. What are you doing down here? I thought you and Jean had a date night?"

Scott quickly headed towards the door. "We do, I was just checking on the patient. See you guys later." He walked out quickly.

Emma followed his form with her eyes. She was slightly disappointed that his visit was cut short. She could feel Rogue's eyes on her. "What?"

Rogue put her hand on her hip. "He is engaged."

Emma grabbed the food from Rogue's hand and took a seat. "I know. Some innocent flirting doesn't hurt anybody."

"Innocent flirting always hurts somebody. Trust me, I know." She sat down next to her friend. "So. How are you?"

Emma took a bite. "I'm ok." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "No I'm not. I am beginning to feel like he will never wake up."

Rogue could understand her frustration. "These things take time."

"I know. But you know how impatient I can get. Anyway, can we please talk about something else? You told me you had something to tell me."

Rogue had almost forgot one of the main reasons she had come down here. "Oh yeah. So I talked to Warren about speaking with his dad, and he got all upset at me because I didn't talk to him about it first. Then he basically said we never do anything intimate, and ended up kissing me and telling me that he loves me!"

Emma didn't seem the least bit surprised. "Well of course he loves you. What kind of man hires a personal chef for a woman he doesn't care for? And he is right you know."

Rogue was confused. "About what?"

Emma smirked in her direction. "About you giving up the goods. How many dates have you been on now? Plus, its not like he is just any guy, he is your boyfriend who obviously loves you. What are you waiting for? Just get it over with already. Plus, he looks like he would be decent in the sack. Once you get a taste, trust me, you'll crave for more."

Rogue couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're supposed to be on my side here! Anyway, why would I do it with someone I don't love?"

"Rogue, you're a 25 year old virgin. You don't have time for a fairytale love story. This is the real world. You care about him, right?"

Rogue pondered the question. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna rush into his bed!"

The blue-eyed woman looked at her suspiciously. "Oh my gosh, you are totally still obsessed with that backwoods bayou Cajun!"

Rogue snorted at her statement. "Yeah right."

Emma picked through her food. "You can't lie to me. I don't have to be a telepath to know that. You need to move on."

Rogue knew that Emma was right. Maybe she was pathetic. She sighed and looked down at her hands.

Emma looked at her seriously. "Rogue. I hate to be the one to say this to you, but we need the help from Angel's father. You have to do what you have to do to make sure that we get it."

Rogue abruptly stood up, angry at what Emma had just said. "So you think I should whore myself out?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "You do love the dramatics, don't you? No. I think you should sleep with him to get it out of the way and to persuade him a bit. Who knows how long you'll wait if you wait for love. Besides, your fairy tale has half come true. You don't love him, he loves you. And you know how it feels to love someone that doesn't love you back."

Emma's words stung, but they were true. She did know how that felt, and it sucked.

She said her good byes and decided she had a lot of thinking to do.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As she passed the rec room, she was surprised to see that it wasn't occupied. She hadn't actually sat down and relaxed for a while now. She walked into the room, and plopped herself down on the large sofa. Where was the damn remote? She got down on her hands and knees to look under the couch.

"Looking for this?"

She shot up and turned around, knowing whomever it was got a pretty good look at her behind.

She turned red when she saw that it was Remy. "Yeah. Actually I am." She reached out to grab it, but he suddenly lifted it high above his head. " Uh uh uh, not so fast. I get to choose what we watch."

Rogue cocked her hip out to the side, where she rested her hand. "No. I was here first, and I don't feel much like company. Besides, your psycho girlfriend might get the wrong idea, and we don't want that."

She thought her words would make him leave, but apparently she was wrong. He plopped him self down and placed his legs on the coffee table. He patted the spot next to him, signaling her to sit down.

She sat down on the opposite end, staying as far away from him that she possibly could. The whole situation just felt awkward.

He proceeded to flip through the channels. "So, how are you and Wings?"

If she thought the situation couldn't get anymore uncomfortable, she was wrong. "We are good."

He began to click through the channels at a faster pace. "That's just great."

He was being sarcastic. She could do the same. "How is your happy little home?"

He mocked her answer. "We are good."

Rogue snorted. "Yeah. Seems like it. Where is little miss sunshine? I couldn't help but notice how she isn't here up your ass."

"Remy couldn't help but notice how Wings is never up yours. Kind of strange, don't you think? Maybe he doesn't care about you as much as you think he does."

"Well that's not true, because he told me he loved me tonight." The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them.

He turned to look at her. She threw a low blow. He could toss back, and he had excellent aim. "Of course he did. He wants to fuck you. You're still an inexperienced girl that he wants to turn into a woman."

She was furious. "You have no clue about my sex life. We are doing just fine—"

"You should give it up. I mean the guy has spent some money on you." He cut her off, and began to shuffle through his cards.

She was beginning to get upset. "I see what is going on. You're jealous!"

He continued to mess with his cards. "If I remember correctly, you came on to me."

"You must have a bad memory, because you were the one who lost control and kissed me!"

"I have done that to countless woman so many times. I was just taking advantage of you."

He needed to say those words. He needed her to hate him, like he hated himself.

Instead, she unexpectedly scooted closer to him, and rested her hand on his cheek. "I know that's not true. I saw how you looked at me. When you're with her, you seem miserable and empty. I know you care for me still."

This was going too far. He couldn't allow her to get close to him. She would only get hurt in the end. He removed her hand from his face.

"You are mistaken. That very night you were the last thing on my mind when I had her on all fours, screaming my name."

She abruptly stood up, her hands balled into fists. A tear fell down her cheek. "I hate you Remy LeBeau."

She left the rec room as fast as her legs could carry her.

He felt miserable. But as much as it killed him, he needed her to move on. He was so beneath her it was unreal. He didn't deserve to even be the dirt that she walked on.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She made her way to her room. She slammed the door behind her. What the hell was his problem? He was such and asshole, and she could do so much better!

Wait, she was talking about him like they had something. What the hell was wrong with her? She had a boyfriend who obviously thought the world of her. She knew what she needed to do.

She quickly took a shower. When she stepped out, she found a black lace thong with a matching bra. She had bought the set when she went shopping with Kitty, intending them to be seen on her by Remy. Fuck him.

She put them on, and ran a comb through her hair, allowing her hair to dry slightly, enhancing her natural waves. She looked at herself in the mirror. Not too bad.

She flung on her short satin robe, and quickly headed out of her door.

She hurried down to the opposite end of the hall, where she stopped in front of Warrens door. She inhaled deeply, the nerves getting the better of her. It was now or never.

She knocked lightly on his door. Warren answered, and was very surprised to see her, especially dressed the way she was.

Rogue heard someone coming up the stairs. When she turned to see who it was, her eyes met a pair of crimson colored ones. She quickly turned around and kissed Warren with as much passion as she could muster.

When she broke the kiss, the look on his face was pure bewilderment. She smirked at his response. "Can I come in?"

He couldn't even reply. He just stepped aside, allowing her to enter. She gave one last look at Remy, before turning and entering Warren's room, the door closing behind her.

Remy couldn't move. What the hell had he done?

**To be continued…**


	9. Unexpected

**Hola everybody! Once again, sorry about the update time. I won't bother you with a long explanation and excuse, but I seriously have been crazy busy. I am a returning college student, and I go to school year round. It seems like I am always taking midterms or finals. **

**About the reviews. ****Wow****. With the exception of a few people, you guys REALLY did not want Rogue to hook up with Warren. There were so many good ones; I couldn't even pick a selected few for shout outs. I love the encouragement, and it's nice to know that people are actually reading my work.**

**Well I will keep this A/N short. **** * muah * to all of you who reviewed. Keep em' coming!**

**Previously on **_**Testing Boundaries**_** chapter 8: **_She flung on her short satin robe,_ _and quickly headed out of her door._

_She hurried down to the opposite end of the hall, where she stopped in front of Warrens door. She inhaled deeply, the nerves getting the better of her. It was now or never._

_She knocked lightly on his door. Warren answered, and was very surprised to see her, especially dressed the way she was._

_Rogue heard someone coming up the stairs. When she turned to see who it was, her eyes met a pair of crimson colored ones. She quickly turned around and kissed Warren with as much passion as she could muster._

_When she broke the kiss, the look on his face was pure bewilderment. She smirked at his response. "Can I come in?"_

_He couldn't even reply. He just stepped aside, allowing her to enter. She gave one last look at Remy, before turning and entering Warren's room, the door closing behind her._

_Remy couldn't move. What the hell had he done?_

**To be continued…**

**Chapter 10**

**Unexpected**

As she entered his room for the first time, she was surprised to find that it was decorated so plainly. There were no fancy furnishings, or anything showcasing Warren's wealth. Warren didn't like to brag about his fortune, so why would his room be any different? She also noticed it was very organized, and virtually spotless. She was tidy herself, but was nothing compared to him. The bed sheets looked crisp and straight, like he actually ironed them before he made his bed.

The bed.

It was so tidy, and it looked cold and uninviting. It brought her back to her senses on why she had made her way to his room in the first place.

She nervously tugged at her satin belt that looped lazily through her short satin robe. "You're room is really…clean."

He blushed slightly and crossed his arms. "Yeah. If you grew up in my father's house you would understand why I am the way I am. He had a military upbringing, and he expected everything to be perfect in his household as well. I guess I kind of brought my habits with me."

She uncomfortably shifted her stance. She had never done this before.

He noticed her movement and took a seat on his bed. "Listen, I am sorry about the way that I acted earlier. I just despise the man that is my dad. He treats me ok I guess, but then goes on national television and demonstrates his hate for the mutant population. I just don't get it. If I could only make him realize that we are all the same…"

When she saw how frustrated and hurt he looked, she sat down next to him and rested her hand on one of his angelic wings. She knew that he had fought this internal battle with his father many times.

"We can't force the idea of mutants and humans living together peacefully on anybody, but we sure as hell can try to persuade them. That's why we are all here, isn't it? We all want peaceful coexistence. Even if it takes another hundred years, followers of that belief will never give up. Maybe one day you're dad will get with the program and come to his senses."

He turned to face her and gave her a weak smile. "We can only hope so."

He looked down and noticed that her robe had fallen off of her shoulder, and he could see the black lacey bra working hard to keep her breast from escaping their lacey prison. He knew that she was blessed with a perfect body, but this was the first time he had seen her assets in flesh form. Normally she kept them well covered.

He looked up into her sea green eyes. She blushed and bit down on her lower lip. She turned her head away from him, and attempted to move the robe back up onto her shoulder.

He detected her intensions on covering back up, and gently placed his hand on hers, interrupting her movement. She froze and removed her hand, placing it back on her lap.

He felt an urge come over him, and he gently traced his finger along her bra strap, slowly moving his hand lower over her mounds of flesh, until he could feel her erect nipple through the lacey material underneath his finger tip. It felt tiny and perfect, and he proceeded to move the bra out of the way so he could see them for himself.

She froze as soon as his hand began to trace her shoulder and undergarments. She knew it was natural to be nervous, but was it normal to dread what was about to come? Her body betrayed her when his finger traced the sensitive area outside of her bra, and her body screamed at the sensation. He proceeded to move her bra out of the way, and she abruptly stood up.

She didn't care what anybody else said. She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready for it to be with him. And it wasn't fair to him either. If they did this, their relationship would go to a whole different level, and she wasn't prepared for that. She immediately felt guilty. He loved her, and she just couldn't love him back.

She quickly adjusted her robe properly, and wrapped her arms around herself. "I'm sorry, I just can't do this."

She expected him to kick her out of his room. She momentarily debated if she should just run out of the room herself, but figured that would just make the situation worse.

She was surprised when she felt a hand on top of hers. She saw a look of sadness on his face. "Rogue, its ok. I know you don't love me now, but hopefully one day that will change. I don't care how long it takes. We don't have to be intimate until you are ready."

How could he be so naïve? She could never love him the way that he deserved. She sagged her shoulders in defeat, and allowed him to hug her.

He decided it was time to lighten the mood. "Although, I don't suggest wearing that little ensemble around me anymore. I might want to take pictures and brag to my friends."

He felt her giggle into his chest, and felt better.

She looked up at him, and tilted her head back. "I feel like an idiot."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't. We all have our moments…" He silently contemplated whether or not he should say what he was about to say next. "You didn't do all of this because you needed me to talk to my father, did you?"

She was tired of lying. She decided to tell him the truth. "I'm not going to lie. That was partially why I did it. But I also wanted to do it to make you happy. I'm not exactly the perfect girlfriend, and you have been so patient with me."

"Don't ever feel like you have to bargain with me. If it makes you feel better, I already talked to him."

She quickly turned to him, surprised. "You did?"

"Yes. Your plan worked. He wasn't going to help, but when I mentioned that I thought it was a good idea for me to come out as a mutant, he quickly changed his mind."

She was shocked. Even after their little fight, he still came through for the team. He was such a good guy. What the hell was wrong with her?

She moaned and placed her face in her hands. "Now I feel like even a BIGGER idiot."

He laughed, and forced her hands down. "If I knew you would do this after an argument, I would have started one a long time ago."

She playfully slapped his arm. "You aren't going to drop it, are you?"

He playfully grabbed his chin and pretended to think. "Well…no."

She smiled and shook her head. "I need to get some sleep."

She turned to head towards the door, but paused. "Warren?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for being so understanding."

He nodded his head, and she left his room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He paced his room back and forth. He was going to go crazy. Every time he would detect the slightest noise, he would peak out of his room to see if Rogue was entering hers.

He couldn't believe that she actually did it. It was his own fault. How could he have treated her like that?

He stepped outside on his balcony and lit up a cigarette. He had stopped smoking since she had returned, because he knew how much she hated it. But right now the stress was getting to him, and he couldn't fight off the addiction for one more moment.

He lit his cigarette with his fingertip, and deeply inhaled his first drag. Five puffs later, he figured it was doing nothing for his nerves and he discarded it.

He walked back inside, and heard someone's door open. He silently ran to his door and opened it slightly.

Rogue was leaving Warren's room. She had a smile on her face, and seemed content.

He couldn't bare the sight. He quickly shut his door and stood there momentarily, for he didn't know what to do next. She had gone through with it. And judging by the grin on her face, it went good.

He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated at what he had just witnessed. There was a part of him that thought that she wouldn't go through with it. That she would come to her senses and just leave that winged asshole hanging high and dry.

But what did he expect? He had turned down all of her attempts to get him to confess his true feelings for her. This was his punishment, and it was awful. He had never felt this way about any woman in his life.

He slowly sat down on his bed, hunched over and tapping his fingertips on his knee. He couldn't take it anymore. This just wasn't working. He stood and walked over to his brown duster. He rummaged in one of his many hidden pockets and took out a cell phone. He dialed the only number that was preprogramed in the device. A tired voice answered the phone. "_Bonjour_?"

"It's me."

"Remy? What time is it? Are you ok?"

"No, I'm not. I want out of this arrangement. I can't take it anymore."

"What are you talking about Remy?"

"I am talking about Kara. I want out. I don't care about your deal with her father anymore. It isn't worth it. I don't care if I am banished forever, staying with her isn't worth it."

There was momentary silence on the other line.

"Didn't you speak with your brother?"

"I tried to return his call, and Mercy said he was out on business."

Mercy was his brother Henry's wife. She was a good woman and wouldn't lie about Henry's where abouts. If she said he was out on business, he was out on business.

His father cleared his throat. "That's right, he is still gone. Well I guess I will inform you. The deal with her father is off. Turns out he wasn't as big of a deal as we thought he was. That deal was over weeks ago."

Remy couldn't breath. He had to resist the urge to throw his phone across the room. He growled into the receiver. "Don't you think it was important that I get that message before Henry left?"

His father snorted on the other line. "You are pretending to court a beautiful woman, how hard can it be?"

"It has been unbearable."

"Well, my son, I am sorry to hear that. I do have other news though. News that will be welcomed by you."

Remy sincerely doubted that he could care about anything his father said right now. "What is it?"

"Marius has died from a heart attack. The old fool always thought it would be one of us to get him, and instead his own body did. You know what this means…"

Remy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Marius was the leader of the Assassins. At one point in time he was engaged to Marius Boudreaux's daughter, Bella Donna. It was an attempt to form an alliance between the guilds. It wasn't all that bad. Bella was a beautiful girl, and Remy had thought himself to be in love. On the day of their wedding, her brother had a change of heart, and attempted to kill him. In an act of defense, Remy beat him to it. The Assassins were enraged, and Remy was exiled from the only home he had ever known to keep the peace between the guilds. With Marius dead, the new ruler of the Assassins would be his only child left, Bella Donna.

"So Bella Donna is the new leader of the Assassins, what does that mean to me?"

His father snorted on the other end of the line. "What does it mean? It means that she has called an alliance between the guilds. The girl ain't a fool. She knew how the Assassin numbers were dwindling down to almost nothing. Remy, she also has lifted your exile. You can finally come home!"

Remy didn't know what to say. He was in shock. "Why would she lift the exile?"

He could almost hear his father shrug his shoulders. "Who cares why! The fact is that you can now come home!"

He thought about this new opportunity. He could leave right now, and no one would know he was gone until morning. But he had unfinished business to attend to. "I am home, for right now."

He hung up the phone.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Class was almost over. She had to have looked at the clock at least twenty times during class. She was glad that they only had a month left until summer vacation. When it was finally over, she rushed to take off her coverall.

"What's the rush Stripes?"

Wolverine had noticed her impatience during class. She barely said a word the whole time.

She turned around, frustrated at him for holding her up. "I have to talk with Emma. Warren's father has agreed to find out some information about William Stuart. This is a huge deal. Hopefully, we can find a lead that will be able to tell us why Sinister was cloning, and why a Trask agent was funding the experiment."

He pulled a cigar out and lit it. "Yeah, it all doesn't make any sense."

She scrunched her nose up at the smell of the cigar. "You know the professor doesn't allow smoking inside."

Logan smirked in her direction. "Do you see him around?"

She enhanced her accent, and had a look of mock shock on her face. "I do declare Mister Logan, you are just a pure rebel!"

He lifted a corner of his mouth. He was happy that she had lightened up slightly since she had first arrived. "Don't call me 'mister'."

She smirked in his direction and headed out the door.

When she arrived at the med bay, she found Emma in her usual spot. She looked much better. She looked like she had gotten some sleep, and she actually had bathed and did her hair.

"You look good Emma"

The blonde woman turned her head to face her friend. "I figured that if this is Christian, he would wake up and be absolutely shocked at my appearance, and most likely would pass out and fall into another coma."

Rogue grinned at Emma's attempt at humor towards the serious situation. "Well guess what? Warren talked to his dad, so we finally have an in!"

Emma smirked. "So, you did the deed then?"

Rogue shook her head. "Nope. I decided I don't care what anyone says. I want to be in love before I do that. I have waited this long, so what's the difference?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "You can't fool me. I know your private feelings about Mr. LeBeau. You are quite a projector when it comes to your sexual fantasies."

Rogue turned a shade of deep red. "Emma Frost, you better stay out of my head! And I don't fantasize about him…"

Emma quickly cut her off. "You are such a horrible liar. Anyway, we need to attempt to look for Shaw. The sooner we locate him, the better."

Rogue had almost forgot about the little task of finding him. "I know, I just didn't know if you were ready to leave the med bay yet."

Emma looked towards the handsome man on the hospital bed. "Unfortunately, I don't think he will be coming back to us anytime soon."

Rogue didn't know what to say. She just reached out to rest her hand on Emma's shoulder.

Emma quickly backed away from the contact. "Anyway, I was thinking we could go out tonight, since no one knows about Shaw. It would really help if you flew us to the location you last left him to save some time."

Rogue pondered the idea. To be honest, she actually was excited about flying. She loved the sensation, even if the power was stolen. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's meet at eleven. All the teachers will be in bed by then."

Emma nodded. "I'll meet you in your room."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She closed her bedroom door behind her, and proceeded to make her way to her bed. She knew that they would be gone half the night looking for Shaw, so she decided it might be a good idea to take a nap. She took off her clothes, and tossed them into the hamper. She put on an oversized t-shirt, and pulled her hair up.

As sleep just started to take her, she heard a noise outside her balcony door. She cracked her eyes open, and wasn't surprised to find Remy standing over her. She huffed and rolled onto her stomach, placing her pillow over her head. "If you don't mind, I'm trying to sleep."

"Why are you tired _Chère? _Long night?"

She became agitated with his sarcasm. "Sure. Whatever. Will you leave now?"

Instead of leaving, he jumped onto her bed and laid right besides her. "Your bed is comfortable. We could have some fun in it."

He knew that would get her attention.

She rolled over and sat up. "You wish!"

He smirked in her direction "You're right, I do." He quickly changed his tone. "I need to talk to you."

His serious tone caught her attention. She tucked a white tendril behind her ear. "I can't imagine anything we would need to talk about."

He quickly grabbed her hand, and held it tight within his. "We do need to talk. "

She loosened her hands from his grip and stood up. "Oh no you don't Remy LeBeau! I have made myself look like a desperate idiot in front of you too many times. You can't just barge in here and try to swoon me again!"

He couldn't help but grin at her. She was so cute when she was angry. He also thought it was funny that she had actually just used the word "swoon".

"What the hell are you smiling at?"

He stood up and turned towards her. "I am not trying to, as you say, 'swoon' you. I need to explain some things to you."

Ok, now she felt like an even bigger idiot. It seems she was doing a lot of idiotic actions recently. She saw his solemn expression, and became worried. "Is everything ok?"

He smiled weakly. "Everything will be. I lied to you."

She wrapped her arms around herself, noticing for the first time that she was only wearing a large t-shirt. "What are you talking about?"

He crossed the room, and cupped her face within his hands. She looked in his eyes, and swore she could see his soul.

He took in her beautiful features. The natural curl of her dark lashes, the way her lips always seemed full and pouty, like they were swollen from a passionate kiss, the way her exotic white streaks seemed to do an elegant dance across her face. She was so beautiful and enticing, and she had mentioned numerous times that she had chosen him. He knew he didn't deserve her, but he was selfish and wanted a chance to be happy.

They could be happy.

She remained still, but became worried when he didn't say anything. If he kept on looking at her like that, she would lose all self control and let him have his way with her. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "What did you lie to me about Remy?"

Her angelic voice brought him back to his senses. He grabbed her hand, and kissed her fingertips. "When I told you I didn't feel anything, I was lying. There is no way for me to describe how I feel when I am around you. You never leave my thoughts."

She immediately felt the familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach. This is what she had wanted since she returned to the mansion. She allowed him to place her hand on his chest. She could feel his chest rise and fall with his heavy breathing. When she lifted her gaze to meet his, she could see the truth in his eyes. She could sense his yearning for her.

He slowly lowered his mouth to hers, and let it hover momentarily before her own lips. She nodded her head, and he quickly placed his lips on her own.

This kiss was different for her. It was slow and passionate, and made her whole body feel like she was going to melt. When they had last joined, it was in the heat of the moment and full of lust and need. This kiss was full of….full of…..could he actually love her the way that she loved him? She didn't care at the moment. His exotic sent filled the air, and she deepened the kiss with her tongue.

Her forwardness surprised him, and he smirked against her mouth. He moved his hands to the back of her neck, and gently brought her closer to him. He wanted to kiss her every day like this for the remainder of time. The moment ended when she slowly pulled away from him. "What's the matter _Chère?"_

She sighed and plopped down on the bed. "This isn't right Rems, we are both with other people."

He had become so caught up in the moment that he had forgotten to tell her about his father's dealings with Kara.

"_Chère, _there is something that I need to tell you, that I should have confessed to you the moment you stepped foot in this mansion."

She self-consciously messed with the hem of her shirt. "Remy, you're worrying me. Just out with it already!"

He proceeded to tell her everything. About his father's dealings with Kara's father, about his part in her recruitment, about him lying about his real feelings until the deal was done, he told her everything. When he finished his explanation, she continued to stare at him.

She scrunched her eyebrows, and slowly stood from the bed. "So let me get this straight. You're telling me that this whole time your relationship has been an act?"

He nodded his head.

The more she thought about it, the more it pissed her off. This whole time she was upset because he was taken, and it had all been an act?

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Wel. was it an act when you were sleeping with her right across from my room?"

He ran his hand along the back of his neck. "I had to be intimate, or else she would suspect something was up."

She looked at him in disbelief. "You should have told me what was going on! " She paced the room, and suddenly stopped. "You knew I was hurt, and instead of telling me the truth, you were getting your rocks off and doing everything you could to push me away!"

The conversation wasn't going exactly as he had thought it would. He thought she would be happy, but it appeared she was getting angrier by the minute, which in turn made him angry. "I did tell you the truth. What do you think the purpose of this whole conversation was?"

"Maybe you just wanted to get into my pants! That's all you are! A womanizing whore! And have you forgotten the little fact that I am with somebody?"

He had enough of this. Here he was, confessing his feelings for her, and it was getting turned around and thrown in his face. He knew he was foolish to believe he deserved to be content. He turned to leave her room.

"I wasn't trying to get into your pants _Chère._ Besides, Remy don't like sloppy seconds."

She was enraged. He thought that she had slept with Warren. "Every whore you have been with has been sloppy seconds!" She picked up her pillow, and tossed it pretty hard in his direction. Due to her strength, it hit him pretty powerfully and caused him to stumble forward. He was surprised by her outburst, and even more surprised at the force behind the pillow. He tightened his lips and slammed her door behind him.

She paced her room back and forth. How could he say he cared for her, and talk to her like that? She hated him. She hated his stupid smile, and his gorgeous eyes, and his kissable lips, and his rock hard body….

She shook her head. Who was she kidding?

She sat on her bed and ran her fingers through her hair. He had come to her room to tell her the truth, and she had rejected him flat. No wonder the man had issues when it came to women. She immediately felt guilty, but it quickly turned back to anger again when she thought about him calling her sloppy seconds. Granted, she did call him a whore first, but what he said was worse. Wasn't it? She sadly realized why she was upset. She was upset because he thought that she had quickly gotten into bed with Warren, and she couldn't stand the idea of him thinking she was easy and desperate. The thought of him having that opinion of her had her on the verge of tears. She knew what she had to do. She had to swallow her pride, admit she was wrong, and go apologize to him. She looked at the clock. It was getting pretty late, and she needed to get some rest before her and Emma's own little private mission. She laid down and closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to carry her off to a dreamless sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She awoke to Emma clearing her throat loudly. "Rogue, I need my beauty sleep too, but we have more important things to do at the moment!"

Rogue slowly sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She really didn't feel up to this tonight. She looked in Emma's direction, and had to resist the urge to snicker. She was dressed head to toe in black. Rogue had gotten so accustomed to seeing her in white, that the sight looked very unnatural. "Whoa Emma. Are you trying out for a part in mission impossible? I bet you'll get it. You got the look down."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Ha Ha. The less attention we receive, the better. Although I look fabulous in white year round, I figure it might get too much attention, especially on me."

Now it was Rogue's turn to roll her eyes. "You're so conceded."

Emma nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. "You would be too if you looked like me. Now get up and get ready. We cannot waste any time."

Moments later, Rogue was dressed in an ensemble similar to Emma's. Emma headed towards the balcony and opened the doors. She beckoned out to the night air with her hand. "Will you do the honors?"

Rogue slowly stepped outside, and grabbed Emma underneath her arms. She abruptly leapt up and took to the sky.

The spring air on her face felt marvelous. She had actually missed the sensation of flying. She had the sudden impulse to do a summersault in mid air. She looked down and noticed that Emma was turning an odd shade of green. Rogue could only laugh as they headed for their destination.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they returned home, it was nearly 4:00 A.M. They had searched for hours, and had gotten no leads to the where abouts of Sebastian Shaw. It was as if the man had disappeared of the face of the earth.

Both women were tired, and hungry. "Rogue, you should have flown us to a Denny's. I could really go for some pancakes right bout now."

Rogue was tired, but the idea of pancakes woke her up. "Want to make some? We might as well. It's not like we are going to get much sleep tonight anyway."

"Sure. Let me get out of these clothes, and I will meet you down there." She left the room and closed the door behind her.

Rogue quickly undressed, and put on a tank top with pajama bottom shorts. She made her way to the kitchen, and switched on the lights. She almost had a heart attack when she noticed Remy sitting at the table. "Oh my gosh, you scared me."

Remy glanced up in her direction, and turned his attention back towards his coffee without saying a word.

She leaned against the counter, feeling the tension in the air. "What are you doing up anyway?"

"My mutation makes me constantly generate energy. All I need is about five hours of sleep to feel rested. Anyway, I couldn't sleep tonight."

She began to pick at an invisible fuzz ball on her shirt.

He felt agitated at her intrusion of his alone time. "Where's your man? Or are you coming down here to make him some after sex goodies?"

Ok, she deserved that. But one more outburst from him like that, and she was going to slap him.

"No. You can't be mad at me for being with someone else, especially after you lied to me about being in a relationship. Did you just expect me to mope around?"

He hated to admit it, but he did kind of expect her to wait around for him.

She sighed at his silence and made her way over to him. She surprised him when she sat down right next to him. "Remy, I am sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have reacted like that. I was just…surprised."

He took a sip of his coffee. "Remind me never to throw you a surprise party. What was in that pillow anyway? Bricks?"

She laughed out loud, and rested her face on her hand. "We're a mess, aren't we?"

"Yup."

She casually twirled her hair around her finger. "So, have you talked to Kara yet?"

"I tried to today. She said she was busy and would catch up with me later. I haven't seen her since."

He was actually nervous to have the conversation. He didn't want her to go all psycho on him.

Rogue could see the tension on his face, and it was as if she had read his mind. "You want me to be your body guard incase she goes all tiger on your ass?"

He smirked at the thought of her protecting him. "Nah, I can handle the tiger. It's the great white that I'm scared of."

"I don't think that a shark will do much damage out of the water."

"That's what you think."

She smiled at their pointless banter. There moment was cut short by the arrival of Emma.

"I'm sorry, I had to take a shower and—" She stopped short when she saw the limited space between the two. She knew three would be a crowd. "You know what, I'm not as hungry as I thought I was. I will see you tomorrow."

Remy raised his eyebrow "You two have a date _Chère_? If you were into women, you could have just told me that to begin with. Although, it's probably a good thing you didn't. You would have to put up with my consistent begging to let me watch."

Rogue laughed, and Emma looked at him with a look of disgust. "Ew. " She turned towards Rogue. "That is the type of guy that turns you on? You aren't right."

The light mood was cut short by an abrupt thud up above. Emma was the first to speak up. "Did someone just fall in their room? Who is right above us anyway?"

Rogue felt an uneasy feeling go throughout her chest. "It's Warren's. Something's not right. I can feel it."

She quickly stood up and began to run out of the kitchen and head towards the stairs. Here she was flirting with Remy at four in the morning, and her BOYFRIEND was upstairs possibly being attacked. She pulled her borrowed psychic abilities to the forefront of her mind, and her fears were confirmed. She detected another mind in his room, and it was full of animalistic rage. She quickened her pace, the other two following right behind her. When she made it to his door, she didn't give a second thought when she kicked down his door. She did, however, have to take a second glance when she saw the sight before her.

Warren was naked.

Warren was naked in bed.

Warren was naked in bed with Kara.

**To be continued…**


	10. Tiger Troubles

**Well I'm back! I felt so bad about my last update time that I decided to post this chapter super quick. Again, thanks for all of the reviews! And don't act like you don't love the cliffhangers!**

**On a side note, when you get to the dress part, think about the dress from **_**How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days,**_** only green. You guys know what dress I am talkin' about. **

**Shout outs: Just so you know, I love when I see returning subscribers review. It makes me feel warm and fluffy inside. **

**Luckyxtrick: ****I am so glad that I made you facepalm! LOL That is the exact reaction I wanted to promote!**

**Previously on **_**Testing Boundaries **_**chapter 9: **_She quickly stood up and began to_ _run out of the kitchen and head towards the stairs. Here she was flirting with Remy at four in the morning, and her BOYFRIEND was upstairs possibly being attacked. She pulled her borrowed psychic abilities to the forefront of her mind, and her fears were confirmed. She detected another mind in his room, and it was full of animalistic rage. She quickened her pace, the other two following right behind her. When she made it to his door, she didn't give a second thought when she kicked down his door. She did, however, have to take a second glance when she saw the sight before her._

_Warren was naked. _

_Warren was naked in bed._

_Warren was naked in bed with Kara._

**Chapter 10**

**Tiger Troubles**

She was SO not expecting to see the sight before her. When the other two caught up with her, they apparently hadn't expected to see it either.

For the first time in her life, Emma was speechless. She could do nothing but stand there with her mouth open. She slowly backed away, knowing that none of this was her business, but she didn't leave without making sure Warren knew how she felt about the situation. "Wow Warren. Pretty desperate, aren't we?" She turned her back to the guilty parties and left.

Rogue didn't know what to say. She had been so blind. Nice guy her ass! She said the first thing that came to her mind. "Fuck you both. You two deserve each other."

She turned on her heels and headed towards her room.

Warren called out after her. "Rogue wait!"

He quickly threw on his pants, and attempted to go after her.

Remy blocked his path and leaned against the doorframe. He took out a card, and lazily rolled it between his fingers, charging it in the process. "I would leave her alone if I were you."

In an attempt to intimidate the Cajun blocking his way, he spread his wings to their full extent.

"Move LeBeau, this has nothing to do with you!"

Remy laughed sarcastically. "You were caught fucking my girlfriend _homme. _I would say that it has something to do with me. Although, I can't say that I'm upset."

Kara wrapped the sheet around herself, and attempted to rush towards him. "It isn't what it looks like! She ruined my relationship, so I had to ruin hers! I did it to hurt her, not you Remy! You know how I feel about you!"

She began to cry, and Warren looked back in her direction. "You used me?"

She gave him a dirty look. "Do you honestly think that I would leave _him_ for _you_?"

Remy was amused by the scene, but decided that he was becoming bored with the display. "Actually Kara, I planned on ending things with you earlier. This actually worked out way better. You two have fun." He turned and headed towards his room. He wanted to speak with Rogue, but knowing her, she probably wanted to be left alone right now.

Kara quickly put on her clothes, and chased after him. "Remy, you don't mean that, you love me!" She was becoming desperate.

He quickly tuned around, causing her to stop her chase and collide into his chest. "I used you. I have been using you from the beginning. My father thought he needed your father's help, but it turns out your daddy is about as useless as you are, so the deal is off. I don't love you, and I never have." He pretended to straighten out his duster, and gave her a bright smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, fuck off!" He whistled a tune as he headed towards his room.

Kara stood there in the hallway. Her breathing began to quicken, and she felt like she was going to pass out. He never loved her. He never loved her. He never loved her. Those words repeated over and over again in her head. She slowly made her way to her room. When she walked inside, she shut the door behind her and leaned against it.

She began to feel heat radiate within her chest. At first she thought that it was heartache, but soon discovered it was anger. Raw, unmanageable anger. This was all that whore's fault! If she never had come back to the mansion, everything would still be fine. Remy was lying. He didn't use her; he loved her! That home wrecking slut would pay!

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Rogue decided against teaching the next day. She wouldn't have been much use to Logan, not after the night she had. To be honest, she wasn't that upset that Warren had actually cheated on her. She was upset because she had trusted him, and he betrayed her. Was her judgment really that bad? And it was ten times worse because it was with Kara. It could have been anybody, but it had to be her. She hated that woman!

She rolled onto her back, and stared at the ceiling. The thought occurred to her that she hadn't exactly been angelic in their relationship either. She had kissed Remy at least twice, and if he had wanted her at the time, she would have dropped Warren in a heartbeat. But what she did was nothing compared to what he did! At least she thought so. Besides, she didn't care about Warren, why was she so upset? Remy was probably thrilled at the situation. He conveniently got to break up with Kara and prove that he was a better man than Warren.

She had been let down by so many people in her life, and she never expected him to be apart of that group. She knew that she didn't love him, but she was close with him. They had basically been official ever since she came back to the mansion. She felt betrayed in every single way. As she started to cry, she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Rogue, can I please talk to you?" The desperation that sounded in his voice was pathetic.

The man had some nerve.

"Go away asshole!"

"Rogue, I never meant to hurt you! It was an accident! I never meant it to go that far!"

She laughed sarcastically. "What, did you slip and fall in her VIGINA! Just leave me alone!"

"I understand you're pissed at me, but I actually do need to talk to you about our mission. My father called me today, and he has information on Mr. William Stuart."

That got her attention. She was going to get up to answer the door, but quickly changed her mind. "Good. Go tell Emma, Scott, or Logan. They will know what to do with the information."

"Rogue, I know what I did was wrong. It was the worst mistake I have ever made, and I'm sorry. I just needed to feel something…anything. I wasn't thinking clearly. Will you please let me in so we can talk?"

She was not even going to acknowledge that she could hear him. He could stand out there all night for all she cared. She heard him sigh on the other side of the door, and finally she could hear his footsteps carrying him away.

Her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wondered what kind of information he had received. There suddenly was another knock on her door.

She was really starting to get agitated. "I SAID FUCKING GO AWAY!"

"Um, what the hell?"

Rogue quickly got up at the sound of Kitty's voice. "Kit I'm sorry! You wouldn't believe the night that I had."

Kitty passed her. "Actually I can. Word spreads pretty fast in this mansion. So Warren and Kara? That's so gross. Are you ok?"

"I'm ok, I guess. I feel like I should be a little more upset then I am."

Kitty sat down. "I feel like this is all my fault. I practically forced you to date him."

Rogue couldn't help but laugh at her friend. "Kitty, don't be goofy." She took a deep breath before she continued. "Honestly, I originally agreed to go on that first date with Warren to make Remy jealous. I actually started to like Warren though. He seemed like a good guy. Guess I was wrong."

"I know you don't want to hear this, but just because he did what he did doesn't necessarily make him a bad guy, it just makes him shallow and weak."

Rogue raised her eyebrow at her friend. That was typical Kitty, always trying to see the rational side in every situation.

"And I can't believe Kara did that to Remy! What the hell was she thinking?"

Rogue debated whether or not she should tell her friend about Remy's dealings with Kara. She quickly decided against it. After all, he had confided in her, and the LAST thing she wanted to do was betray his trust.

Kitty continued to speak. "There is a reason why I came to talk to you today." The petite woman began to pick at her fingernails.

Rogue noticed her nervous habit. "What's wrong?"

Kitty lifted her head and smiled. "Nothing is wrong. Nothing at all. It's actually perfect." She lifted her left hand, and Rogue noticed a diamond ring placed on her ring finger.

Rogue looked at the ring, and lifted her eyes back up to Kitty's. "Oh my gosh, when did he ask you?"

Kitty blushed. "Last night. It was so picture-perfect and romantic. After everything we have been through, we realized that we never want to be apart ever again. I love him so much."

Kitty began to tear up at her own happiness. Rogue hugged her friend tightly. She released her embrace, and smiled warmly at her. Kitty wiped at her own tears. "We want to get married fairly soon, and I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor?"

Rogue felt a swell of emotion run throughout her body. She would never admit it to anyone, but she secretly loved weddings. Even when she was younger, she had a hidden stash of bridal magazines. Due to her mutation at the time, the idea of marriage was so unrealistic it was painful. Her little fantasies almost allowed her to have some hope and just feel _normal_. Now one of her best friends sat in front of her and was asking her to be apart of one of the most important days of her life. "Of course I will be. You don't even have to ask."

Kitty bounced with excitement. "Great! You do realize that means we have to go wedding dress shopping and stuff like that?" Here bright eyes quickly widened. "Oh my gosh! I need to tell Jean because she is going to be in it too. I need to tell her the news! I will chat with you later!"

And just like that, she was gone. Rogue was truly happy for Kitty. They had known each other ever since they were young teens. A tiny sadness suddenly overcame her. Everything was going to change. They all were grown adults now. Kitty would soon be married, and so would Jean. The married couples wouldn't live at the mansion forever. And sooner or later, they would want children. For some reason, she felt like she was getting left behind. She had always thought it would always be the same team together, but unfortunately that was going to change. It was inevitable. She knew change was good, but the idea of her friends moving away saddened her.

A psychic broadcast from Emma interrupted her thoughts.

_All X-Men please assemble in the war room. _

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Most of the members were already seated when she made her way into the war room. Warren looked at her desperately, almost begging her with his eyes to sit next to him. She turned up her nose and took a seat next to Jean and Scott.

Jean gave her a small smile. So did Scott. They both looked at her like she would break if they said the wrong thing. Word really did travel fast through the mansion. She was sure that even some of the older students had found out by now.

She looked around the room, and noticed the absence of a certain crimson-eyed mutant. She had been so caught up in her own emotions that she didn't even think about how he felt. She knew that he didn't give a shit about the shifter bitch, but come on! Catching her in bed with another man had to have done some damage to his ego, although that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

She also noticed that the psycho slut herself wasn't present.

Remy chose the moment to grace the room with his presence. He glanced around the room, and found that the only available spot was next to Warren. He opted to lean against the wall.

Emma cleared her throat, and Scott stood to go to the front of the room. He spoke first.

"We have called this meeting to discuss some new information that we were informed of recently. First off, you may notice the absence of one of your fellow team members. Kara apparently has decided to resign. We found her room empty this morning."

Rogue looked around the room, and noticed that everybody, even Logan, was trying to avoid making eye contact with her. They seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Remy as well.

"Also, thanks to Warren, we have gotten a huge lead on the Trask agent known as William Stuart. Emma, would you like to brief them?"

Emma fluttered her eyelashes in his direction. "Of course Scott. Anything you want from me, you need only to ask. And I mean _anything_." She slowly licked her lips.

Rogue shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Emma was her friend, but the woman could really push it sometimes. She glanced over in Jean's direction. Her face appeared to match the color of her hair.

Scott's mouth apparently wasn't working, and he appeared to be mute.

Emma continued. "We have obtained reliable information on Mr. Stuart. Apparently, he is a major funder and member of Trask Enterprises. Before, we couldn't trace any information on him. Trask apparently covers for their high rollers. He belongs in an elite group within Trask that consists mostly of filthy rich members, who consider themselves higher than all the rest. They all get together once a year, and throw a ball. Yes, you heard right. They actually throw a big, fancy ball. It's super exclusive, and it just gives them a chance to brag about their wealth and their common interest, which mostly consist of hating mutants. As long as one has enough money and agrees with their 'ethics', they can attend the social gathering. Of course, they do thorough background checks on all of their members."

She stopped a moment to allow questions to be asked. Rogue spoke up first. "So we found out nothing on Sinister yet? How does knowing they have a dance yearly help us at all?"

Emma smiled sweetly in her direction. "I am glad you asked. Every year this gathering takes place at a different members' elaborate home. They like to show off what they've got. It is just our luck that this year's ball will be held in a few weeks in no other then Mr. Stuart's big, fatty mansion."

Everyone seemed to speak at the same time. It wasn't hard for Bobby to speak louder than the others. "So it's simple. We bust in, crash the party, and get the information we need from him."

Emma looked at the man like he was covered in snot. "That is absurd. The area will be heavily guarded, and Trask has some very advanced weapons. If we just went in blind, it would be guaranteed that some of us could lose our lives. No, we need to go undercover for this one."

Scott chose to rejoin the briefing. "We will be creating two fake identities for two team members. The gathering consist of mostly men, but they also bring other…guests."

Emma finished for him. "It's a group of wealthy men. They almost always bring top dollar escorts as eye candy, and for other uses later. If we had two male team members join separately at the same time, it may cause some suspicion. We need two of you—"

Warren cut her off. "I'll do it! I am used to these kind of functions, and I know how to speak to these kind of people."

Rogue huffed out loud. He _would_ volunteer for this.

Emma refused to address him, so Scott spoke up instead. "We did consider you for the mission, but your cover could be blown too easily. Not just because of your wings, but they know who your father is. They would be curious why you are apart of Trask, and he is not."

Rogue felt like this mission had been hers from the beginning. "I'll do it."

Remy raised his eyebrows in her direction. "You're gonna pose as an escort _Chère?"_

She shrugged her shoulders. "How hard can it be? I just put on way too much make up and wear almost nothing."

Emma interrupted. "Actually, most of the escorts are very beautiful, elegant women who are very educated. They serve the men a dual purpose. They have the looks and fit in with that particular society, but they also fulfill their sexual obligations later that night."

She looked Rogue up and down like she was picking out a cut of meat. "You actually would make a really good escort if you ever decided to change your profession. Most of the men in this room are projecting the thought of you naked right now. It appears they think highly of your form."

Rogue self-consciously wrapped her arms around herself.

Wolverine unsheathed his claws. "Maybe these will take their minds off of ya."

Emma let out a light laugh. "Anyway, I was hoping that you would volunteer, you have no obvious mutation, other than your hair, and that can be easily fixed. Plus your powers will be very handy. It would be fabulous if you absorbed some information out of his tiny brain."

Rogue had a sudden thought. "Don't get me wrong, I want this mission, but am I the best choice? You and Jean are telepaths…either one of you could play the part just as well as me."

"I actually thought of that. After introducing the idea to Mr. Summers, he quickly was against the idea. Which I told him was ridiculous—" Scott attempted to cut her off, but Emma silenced him with her hand. "Although I understand why. He can't go in himself because of his mutation, and he would blow the mission if he had the slightest feeling that something was going to go wrong and his fiancé was inside."

"I would do that for _any_ member who was inside." Emma looked at Scott, and the two stared momentarily before she shook herself off and continued.

"Anyway, I am going to go in also. It isn't uncommon for these men to show up with at least two of these women, so we won't look out of the ordinary. Then we get the information from Mr. Stuart. We can give him a little 'encouragement', and he is bound to be attracted to at least one of us, most likely both."

"How would we get an opportunity to do that? You said yourself that the security was going to be crazy."

"Like all men, Stuart has a thing for attractive women."

Rogue scooted closer to the table. "But you said that we are supposed to be escorting someone else."

Emma laughed sarcastically. "That's even better. He is the kind of man that loves a challenge. Now all we have to do is pick out our client, and the choice is obvious. We need a thief just incase we can't get the information ourselves, and someone that can play a role." She turned to Gambit and smirked. "Gambit, I heard that your resume fits you for the position perfectly!"

Gambit returned the smirk. "You had me at the word 'escort'."

Warren immediately stood from his chair. "How is he better qualified than me? I don't know if any of you have noticed, but his eyes aren't exactly normal."

Rogue had the sudden impulse to defend Remy. She loved his eyes, and she would be damned if she let someone make him feel abnormal because of them.

Emma noticed het shift in position, and spoke up so things didn't get out of hand too quickly. "There is such a thing as colored contacts, unless you are opting to have a drastic wing removal surgery for our cause."

He slowly lowered back into his seat, and sent a threatening look to Remy, although Remy didn't seem to ruffled over the situation. Instead he turned his attention to Rogue, and suggestively winked in her direction.

Rogue looked at him and blushed as she tucked a loose hair behind her ear.

Scott witnessed the little interaction and spoke up. "Gambit, this isn't a joke. You have to pose as an actual member of their club." He turned his attention to Rogue. "And you have to play the part of an actual escort. You will have to display some…affection, and even stay in the same hotel room incase you are followed."

Rogue lifted her head. "I can do this. We have to get as much information that we can out of this guy. Don't worry, we can handle it."

Remy smirked in her direction. "Oh, we will handle it. I think this is the best mission yet. Don't play your part too good _Chère, _you might cause me to '_swoon'."_

No one else understood their little inside joke.

She blushed even more, and sank lower in her seat. Warren caught sight of the whole interaction, and felt the swell of jealousy within his chest. She had never looked at him the way she looked at that scum LeBeau. Then it hit him. Was that man the reason she never showed him affection? His fist began to ball up at his sides.

Emma clasped her hands together. "Well it's settled then. We will all get our fake identity information tomorrow. You are all dismissed."

Rogue slowly rose from her seat. She wanted to make sure that Warren left the room before she did.

Remy walked up next to her. "So? How much do you charge? You look very expensive."

"That's right swamp rat. You couldn't afford me."

"If you need advice on a dress, I can help. Make sure you show lots of skin, on the front and the back. If you really wanted to play the part, it wouldn't hurt if you got a tattoo on your lower back. I love those. They are like little targets."

She got his dirty joke, and tried to hide her smile and replace it with a look of disgust. "Like I said, you won't get a chance to see it because you can't afford me." She flipped her hair and made sure she put an extra swing in her step as she walked away.

He grinned to himself at her little show. He called out after her. "For one night with you, I would make a deal with the devil."

She blushed and shook her head as she made her way to her room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The next few days seemed to fly by, and the weekend had finally arrived. Logan was gone on "business", so she had had an extremely busy week. The following Saturday would be the night they would go on their mission. She wasn't sure if she was more nervous about getting caught, or getting to touch all over Remy as much as she wanted. The idea of playing the part actually excited her. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help herself.

She had promised Emma that she would go shopping for a dress today. The mission was very formal, and she had absolutely nothing in her closet that was appropriate. As she was getting ready, she heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. When she peaked out her window, she saw Remy just leaving the mansion grounds. That was odd. He hadn't mentioned to her that he was leaving. Not that he had to check in with her or anything, but she was slightly disappointed that they hadn't spent more time together the past few days. She thought that with both of them single, he would have tried to at least ask her to do something, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was moving a little too slow for her taste. What if he never asked her and nothing was to become of them? She quickly pushed the negative thought out of her head, and continued to get ready.

A few hours later, she found herself at a high-end dress shop with Emma. The blonde haired woman must have come here often, because the sales associates were treating her like a queen. "Ms. Frost, we have a brand new collection that hasn't even been put on display yet. Would you and your friend like to view the new merchandise?"

Emma took a sip from her glass of champagne that was provided to them both. "Are they designer? We have to have top of the line look and material."

The dark headed associate eagerly shook her head. "Of course you do! I assure you that you will find something that pleases you."

They soon were in a separate room, which had rows of beautiful dresses lined against the wall. The associate hovered momentarily.

"That will be all Kelly. I will call you if we need you." The woman nodded her head, and closed the door behind her.

Rogue began to browse through the dresses. '"They sure kiss your butt here."

Emma snickered. "They should. I have spent a ridiculous amount of money here, and they get a huge commission. All I can see is dollar signs flashing when I peak into their minds."

"So what are you looking for?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders. "Something sexy, but not extremely whorish. I want something lighter colored—"

Rogue interrupted her. "Let me guess, like something white?"

"I was going to say ivory smart ass."

Rogue was going to retort, but a piece of material caught her eye. She released the dress from the others, and held it up to get a better view of it. It was a beautiful deep emerald color. It dipped slightly in the front, but the back is what got her attention. It swooped unbelievably low, and had a slight train. It was absolutely perfect.

Emma seemed to agree. "That is wonderful. It's exactly what I would have chosen."

Emma ended up picking out a champagne colored dress that had an extremely long slit on the side. Rogue was sure that if Emma turned a certain way, she would be giving someone a little peep show.

When they arrived home, she decided to get a little work out in. She changed her clothes, and headed downstairs to the gym. When she entered, the sight before her made her pulse quicken.

Remy was at the pull up bar. With each movement he made, his lean muscles would flex and pulse as if they had their own heartbeat. When he noticed her, he smiled in her direction and released his hold. He was covered in a thin film of sweat, and his hair lazily hung, slightly damp, by his jawline. As he came closer to her, she could hear that his breathing was slightly labored from the intense work out.

She opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't find her words.

He sensed her pause, and gave her his signature cocky grin. "You like what you see?"

She reddened. Instead of acting defensively, she decided to step up to his advances.

"Actually, yes."

His look faltered, and she laughed. "You weren't expecting that, were you Cajun? I need to practice my escort skills. How am I supposed to do that with you getting all shy on me?"

"Oh, we can practice _Chère._" He quickly grabbed her waist and brought her closer. "As a matter of fact, we can get a lot more practice in if you want to take it to your bedroom."

She attempted to feign indifference to his proposition. "I don't know. I am kind of busy at the moment."

He licked his lips. "Trust me, I can give you a work out that you will never forget."

She slowly ran her hands up his chest, feeling each perfectly defined muscle underneath her fingertips. "Maybe one day I will take you up on that offer."

Their moment was cut short by a loud screeching voice. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM YOU BITCH!"

Rogue quickly turned and was immediately blind sighted by a punch to her face. Her body twisted with the impact, and she turned to look at her assailant.

Kara was slashing wildly within Remy's grasp, attempting to get at her. "I come back to talk to you, and I see THIS? You will love me!" Rogue noticed that some of the other team members had come at the sound of the commotion.

Rogue had to make a choice. The right thing to do was just walk away from the situation. The woman obviously wasn't mentally stable at the moment. But she had played it safe her whole life. Fuck safe.

She quickly made her way to Kara. She lowered her body down to the floor, and swept her leg under Kara's, accidentally knocking down both Kara and Remy in the process. When she was down, she grabbed the other woman's foot to drag her away from him. She didn't want him to get hurt, because this sure was about to get messy. She threw herself on top of the other woman, and began to throw a series of her own punches towards her face. "Are you fucking crazy? You don't hit someone when they aren't prepared! Especially someone like me!"

She immediately felt the body bellow her shift. She jumped off right as the very large cat beneath her attempted to gore her with its claws. She jumped back thinking of her next plan of attack. A whistling noise could be heard, and a glowing card landed right besides the large animal. As the explosion erupted, Rogue was knocked back in the process.

She hit her head against the wall, and felt slightly dizzy. When she reached to touch the back of her head, she felt them familiar thick slickness of blood. When she looked up, she saw nothing but a thick cloud of smoke from the explosion. She slowly stood, waiting for some of the smoke to clear. When she had some visibility, she saw the big cat on the ground, apparently not moving. The air around it began to shimmer like the animal was radiating heat. The form was reverting back to Kara. She looked around to make sure the others were ok. When everyone appeared to be fine, she headed over to the raven-haired woman. She crouched next to the body to check for a pulse. As her hand made skin contact with Kara's neck, the crazed woman's eyes popped open, and she sneered in Rogue's direction.

All of the sudden, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. When she attempted to back away, she quickly fell and doubled over from the pain. When she looked down at her stomach, she saw an object sticking out of her. That sneaky little bitch had stabbed her. She must have been hiding the knife.

Kara stood up and sneered. "I win." And proceeded to escape by jumping out of the nearest window. Scott began to chase after her.

Remy came to her side unaware that she was injured. When he saw the protruding object and the mess of blood that began to seep from her wound, he became frantic. He yelled into his communicator "JEAN! ROGUE NEEDS YOUR HELP! GET TO THE FUCKING GYM NOW!"

His years of training had gone out of the window. He always knew that to panic during a situation like this could be fatal. He slowly lifted her and cradled her in his arms. He felt his eyes begin to water.

When she looked into his eyes and saw his worry and pain, she knew what she had to do. She attempted to speak. "Remy, take out the knife."

He vigorously shook his head. "That could kill you. Jean is coming. Just hold on."

"Remy take it out. I'll be fine. I'll show you." He looked about frantically. He hadn't noticed that Kitty and Emma had rushed to his side.

Emma spoke up first. "Oh for Christ sakes! I'll do it." She quickly pulled out the knife, right as Gambit shoved her away. Rogue pulled forth Wolverines healing mutation, and quickly began the task of healing herself. When she stood, Kitty and Remy looked at her in shock and amazement. "How did you—"

"I'll explain later. Remy, give me your communicator." He slowly handed the small device to her. She grabbed it and spoke into it. "Cyclops, do you have Kara in sight?"

Cyclops answered, out of breath. "Yes, but she has just shifted again and I'm losing her. We are about two miles west of the mansion. I could really use some help."

She spoke back into the receiver piece. "I am on my way."

She turned to look at Emma, and the blonde woman slowly nodded her head. Rogue gave a weak smile and turned her attention to Kitty and Remy. She felt horrible for giving him a scare like that. His fingers seemed to be trembling. She looked directly into his eyes when she spoke. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

She lifted herself and hovered above the ground. The two looked at her in astonishment. She quickly flew as fast as she could out of the window.

As she neared her destination, she saw Cyclops leaning against a tree, panting. She quickly landed besides him. "Scott, which direction did she go?"

He looked at her strangely and spoke between breaths. "How…the hell…did…you…just do…that?"

"Long story. Which way?" He pointed her the right way, and she took off.

She saw her target up ahead. She was still in tiger form.

_What a stupid ass._ _If she would have shifted into any other animal, I never would have found her, _she thought to herself.

She quickly flew down and grabbed the four hundred-pound beast by the back leg as if it weighed nothing more then a feather. She flew up towards the clouds, and glanced down towards the animal. In place of the tiger was Kara, hanging upside down and screaming. "LET ME DOWN YOU FREAK!" She could barely hear her over the wind at the height they were at.

Rogue stopped mid flight, remembering what the woman had said to her after she stabbed her. She yelled to make sure that she was heard. "SURE THING. AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION BITCH, I WIN!"

She released her grip from the woman's foot, and watched her plummet towards the ground.

**To be continued…**


	11. The Big Reveal

**Hello once again! So the thoughts are just absolutely flowing, which is a good thing because I finished this chapter, and will have the next one up within the week. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far! **

**Thanks again for the lovely reviews, they really do keep me going! **

**Chapter 11**

**The Big Reveal**

Even though she had gained control of her powers, and she no longer had to deal with random psyches trying to take control of her mind, she still occasionally had arbitrary thoughts that she knew were not her own. They were usually harmless and insignificant. The closet thing she could compare them to was a conscious. They were little feelings or bits of memories that were odd and felt out of place. Like the time she had the impulse to call her uncle, knowing well enough that she didn't have one. Or like the day when she didn't eat meat because she was influenced by a vegetarian psych she had absorbed, most likely Kitty's. They were ideas that she knew were not her own, and she was fully aware of them.

She was having one of those thoughts at the very moment she let go of Kara. The feeling she received was _Let her drop. She is a crazed psychopath and everyone will understand. Just watch her SPLAT on the concrete._

She shook the thought from her head. It would serve the psycho right if she let her fall to her death, after all, she did try to kill her. She also generated another little problem.

Rogue had revealed her newfound powers, and there was no going back after today.

As she noticed the minimum distance between Kara and the ground, she decided it was about time that she prevented a mess on the beautiful property. She quickly flew down and snatched the woman's arm, lifting her again and heading towards a different direction. She flew to the very large lake on the mansion grounds, and released her hold.

The other woman fell into the murky water. As she surfaced for air, she screamed, terrified from her traumatic experience. Rogue found that the piercing screams were becoming rather annoying, and lifted the woman from the still chilly waters.

She noticed Scott by the lake's edge, eyeing her like one would eyeball an alien. She gently glided down and tossed Kara at his feet. The scared woman crawled quickly to him and wrapped her arms around his legs. She was still in a state of shock, and it didn't appear that she would be coming around any time soon.

Scott quickly reached within his shorts, and pulled out some cuffs that were issued from the mansion.

Rogue couldn't help but smile to herself. Even for unexpected situations he was prepared. She had never seen a member of the team actually use the cuffs before, and she could almost sense the excitement from Scott as he maneuvered Kara into a position so he could fit her with them. He proceeded to cuff her, and shake his leg from her grasp. He then spoke to her as if she were a small child. "Serves you right. What did you expect when you bust in here trying to kill someone?"

Kara continued to shake, unable to move or speak.

"What are you going to do with her?"

"For right now, I guess we will have to put her in one of our containment cells."

He finally turned to look at Rogue. "You know, I am not trying to sound high and mighty right now, but you have a lot of explaining to do. Like how you did all of _that." _He pointed to the sky.

She was so caught up in the moment; she had almost forgotten that he hadn't known previously.

She tucked a piece of untamed hair behind her ear. "I know. I guess I will just explain everything to everyone at one time. Maybe you should call a meeting."

He lifted Kara up by the arm. "Maybe that is a good idea."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Moments later, she found herself surrounded by her team members, all of them staring curiously at her.

She had just finished telling them absolutely EVERYTHING. There was no more room for secrecy of any kind. Well kind of. She couldn't find the heart to tell them that she had actually killed someone. She kind of grazed around that part. She said she just absorbed her while they were in the containment cell. She glanced around the room, feeling extremely uncomfortable from the agonizing silence.

She darted her eyes over to Remy, and found that he wasn't looking at her at all. Instead, he was showing intense interest in his deck of cards, steadily shuffling them within his hands at a rapid pace. His mouth was in a thin line, and his breathing seemed slightly quicker than all of the others.

Scott spoke up first. "So all the leaders knew? All of them except for me? Why didn't you tell me?"

She guiltily shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, probably for the same reasons I didn't tell everybody else. I didn't want to be treated differently."

Kitty spoke up. "So, you can use any ones power that you ever absorbed?"

Rogue nodded her head. "Yeah. Some take more energy than others, but I can use them all."

"Even at the same time?"

Rogue had to think for a moment. "I don't know. I've never tried using more than one at a time."

"Wow. You should of told us. That makes you a class five mutant at the very least; you may have even created a new class. I'm sure glad you're on our side!"

Piotr smiled down at Kitty, as if she had just said the cutest thing in the world.

Rogue appreciated her petite friends comment. She was trying to lighten the mood.

Warren had a very confused look on his face. "How could you have kept a secret like that from me? All this time you have been telling me to embrace my mutation, and the whole time you were hiding yours?"

Her revealing seemed like it was becoming more of an interrogation. She didn't like his tone. "Like you are one to talk about secrets!"

"Exactly! How could you judge me so severely, when you are no better? I was in love with you, and you couldn't open up to me at all?"

"I'm glad I didn't! You would be telling Kara my business in your after sex babble!"

Everyone started to shift uncomfortably.

She could tell that her words were beginning to get to him.

"I only showed Kara a form of love because you showed me NONE! I practically begged you for your affection, and you would rather see me broken!"

For a slight moment she felt guilty. Maybe he didn't deserve the harsh treatment that she had given him, but he was really pushing her buttons. "We will talk _privately_ later."

Remy abruptly stood. "_Excusez_ _moi."_ He headed out the door without saying another word.

Rogue followed his figure with her eyes, and suddenly felt abandoned. She would definitely have to talk with him later.

Jean spoke next. "Rogue, I am not going to sit here and pretend I'm not disappointed. An extremely dangerous man is seeking you out. Sinister is not a force to be taken lightly. If we had known that he was looking for you, we would have made sure that you were more effectively protected while you were in the mansion."

Rogue couldn't help it, but she was beginning to lose her patience. "How would you better protect me? What, would you keep me locked up in my room all day? News flash: I can protect myself. And besides, he doesn't even know if I really exist. Right now he is trying to locate Shaw."

"We could have better protected you by knowing what was going on! Not to mention the fact that you could have put every person in this mansion in danger if we were attacked unexpectedly."

Bored up until this point, Emma's blood began to boil at the sound of the red heads accusations towards her friend. She spoke up. "Look at how you are reacting! This is exactly why she didn't want to tell any of you. You are already trying to make drastic arrangements that aren't necessary."

Jean quickly turned to Emma, and pointed an accusing finger in her direction. "You have no right to speak in here! After all, you caused ALL of it! If she never would have met you, she never would have left and she would be fine!"

Rogue didn't like to be talked about while she was sitting right there. She decided to speak up. "If I never would have left, I would never have gained control. I would still be the outcast. Don't treat me like one again."

Jean seemed only to be paying a slight amount of attention to the southerner. She was still turned towards Emma, her fist balled.

Rogue quickly realized their argument was no longer about her.

Emma was slowly loosing her calm façade. "I just think your upset because you wanted her to stay untouchable. You wanted her to stay miserable so she could stay under your thumb like everyone else!"

Jean slowly began to lift from the ground. "I would never want that!"

Emma looked down at her fingernails, pretending to shine them on her shirt. "Is this conversation still about Rogue? Or is it about the lack of attraction your fiancé feels for you since I came to the mansion?"

Rogue quickly stood, knowing that the situation was about to get out of hand; she had used Jeans powers, and knew what she was capable of.

Scott stood as well. "Emma! That's enough!"

Jean lifted higher into the room and made her way over to the blonde. "You. Take. That. Back."

Emma transformed into her diamond form. "Make me."

"Ok gals, that's enough." Rogue quickly flew over between the two. Jean closed her eyes and took a big breath in and exhaled. "I'm sorry if anything I have said offended you. I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't voice my true opinion." She then turned towards Emma, narrowing her eyes. "And you. Stay away from me and MY fiancé." She stormed out of the room.

Scott awkwardly addressed the remainder members. "Well…um…you all are dismissed." He rushed out after jean.

Emma watched Scott leave the room and returned back to her normal form. She appeared hurt that he hadn't spoken with her. She huffed loudly and quickly left the room.

Rogue promptly chased after her. "Emma wait!"

Emma quickened her pace.

Rogue flew to catch up with her friend. "Emma, what was that about?"

"She was demeaning you. I spoke up in your defense. That's it."

"I appreciate that, but that's not what I'm talking about. You said some pretty harsh things to her back there—"

Emma abruptly turned around. "It's the truth. Whose side are you on anyway?"

"Emma, we are all on the same side."

Emma laughed sardonically. "You forget that I have only been here a few months. I am still the outcast. Now I will be pushed further out of the ring because of what I did to you. Did you ever stop and think about anyone but yourself? You have a home. I am just an intruder to them, and I always will be."

"That's because you act like a loner, I know because I used to be one too. You put on your hard ass exterior and don't allow the others to know you like I do."

Emma shook her head and rested her fingers on her temples. "Look. I have a headache, I'm exhausted, and I have a possible family member in a coma located in the med bay. Excuse me for not giving a fuck right now if they want to embrace me as a team member or not."

She swung around and headed towards the med bay.

Rogue sighed in frustration. She would let her have her own space for now. Besides, she had other matters to attend to, like seeing what the hell was going on with Remy.

She turned around and proceeded to make her way to his room.

When she finally reached his door, she tapped lightly.

No Answer.

She knocked again, this time a little harder.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"The door's unlocked."

She entered his room, realizing that this was the first time she had ever been in it. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. He had beautiful mahogany furniture, and his king sized bed looked warm and inviting. She had to resist the temptation to run over and collapse within the fluffy comforter. She had to admit that he had some taste when it came to decorating and his furnishings. She was brought out of her own personal thoughts when she noticed a bag on his bed.

He spoke up as if he read her thoughts. "Leavin' for a few days."

She wrapped one arm around herself. "Why?"

"Business."

His short abrupt answer began to ignite the dangerous fuse which was her temper.

"It is a bit of a coincidence that you're leaving as soon as I told everyone about my powers."

"Not a coincidence, more like a push."

"Don't leave because of me—"

He didn't even turn around when he answered her. "Despite what you think, not everything's about you."

She stood there, hurt from his retort. "Can you please just talk to me?"

"What do you call this?"

"You know what I mean."

"Nothing to talk about. You have your business, and I have mine."

"Don't pull that shit with me! I thought you of all people would understand!" She could feel the familiar sense of wetness taint her eyes, threatening to overflow.

She saw him tense up, and he sharply turned towards her. He almost hissed when he spoke. "You should have told me."

She desperately tried to defend herself. "Remy there were so many times that I wanted to. I just didn't know how or when—"

"How about when I came to your room, like a fool, and confessed my feelings for you? When I told you I wasn't really with Kara?"

"I didn't know how—"

"You let me think that you were going to die! I have never been that scared in my life!"

She looked into his eyes and saw a glimpse of the fear he had experienced. She shifted her stance, feeling guilty. "I was going to tell you—"

"Dat' s a pretty big secret to keep. Makes Remy wonder what else your hidin." His accent was becoming thicker with his anger.

She defensively crossed her arms. "What did you expect me to do? I went through hell, and I came back here expecting you to be there for me. I didn't know your plans! I thought you had a girlfriend!"

His eyes began to glow crimson red. He released some of his tension within his build by slowly lowering his shoulders. "It shouldn't have mattered. Even if you came back and found me married with five kids, you should have still told me."

"Why should I?"

"Because before everything else, we're friends. And we were the close type. Guess I was wrong."

She didn't know what to say after that.

He continued. "And on top of everything else, I have to see that little display between you and wings downstairs. I saw how your eyes softened when he spoke to you. Maybe you cared more then you thought you did, _non?_"

Now he was going a little too far. She almost growled in her defense. "I know what I feel, and I have no strong feelings for Warren. There is only one person I care about, and he is standing in this room. Can't you see what is right in front of your face, you stupid man?"

He had finished packing his bag, and swung it over his shoulder. He turned to her with a sad expression on his face. There was a reason he was going, and it was ironic she said that to him before he departed. "I have to go."

He walked past her. She followed him, and as she exited his room he locked his door.

He then continued to head towards the garage, and she was right behind him on his heels.

"Remy, where are you going?" There was a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Already told you I have to handle some business."

"You can't leave! Our mission is in a week!"

"I'll be back by then."

By this time they made it to the garage, where he proceeded to mount his motorcycle.

She placed her hand on his arm. "Please don't leave because of me. I don't think I could stand it if you left right now. Remy, you don't know what I went through. I think about it everyday! I don't even know if she had a family or kids…I was just trying to protect myself. And she's dead! She's dead because of me!"

She couldn't hold it in anymore. She felt her knees buckle, and she began to cry. As she started to collapse, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her. She cried even more at the comfort he was providing. She buried her face within his chest, wanting to stay like this and keep the outside worries at bay.

He gently stroked her hair at the base of her neck. "It's ok _Chère_, I'm here."

He allowed her to silently weep close to his body. Her shoulders would occasionally heave because of her sorrow. When her movements subsided, he gently lifted her face up with his finger. "What happened to you?"

She told him about the room where she was trapped with Ms. Marvel, and what she had to do to survive. When she was finished, he grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and pushed her back so he could look at her. "Listen to me. You did what you had to do. Her death is not your fault, it was his."

She tried to look away from his intense gaze. "I should have just let her kill—"

He shook her slightly. "No."

Although simple, there was much force behind that small word.

She wiped at her eyes. "Anyway, please don't go."

"I have to."

He got back on his motorcycle and started the engine. He felt her hand rest once again on his arm. He turned to face her, and saw so much sorrow behind her enticing emerald eyes.

She whispered lightly. "I need you."

He cupped her face between his hands and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

He released his hold and took off at a high speed. When he turned to look behind him, he could still see the beautiful woman with two-toned hair staring after him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Her level of anxiety was soaring to new heights**. **It was already Friday, and the Cajun still hadn't returned from his little get away trip. Men were all the same. They were weak, frail creatures that had to run from women at the first sign of issues. The only reason she had chose Remy for the mission at all was for her friend. The sexual attraction between the two southerners was so strong that _somebody_ had to do something about it, especially since neither of the two seemed to be progressing in establishing any type of title on their little situation.

She sighed at the thought of her own complicated love life. She had one man that seemed to constantly linger in her thoughts, and he was engaged. But anything could happen, right? It was entirely possible that he cared for her also… She just couldn't catch a break. The sound of footsteps brought her out of her personal dilemma. When she looked up, she saw Rogue for the first time since their little disagreement.

"Hey Emma. How is he doing?"

Emma looked down and the comatose body, and tenderly brushed his hair back. "No change."

"Listen, about the other day—"

Emma cut her off. "Don't worry about it. I was stressed out, that's all."

"Well I need your help."

Emma raised her eyebrows in Rogues direction, inviting her to continue with her request.

Rogue grabbed a piece of her hair for display. "I need to dye my hair for tomorrow's mission. I have never done it before. I just don't want it to be permanent, I actually like my hair the way it is."

"That's a simple request. We can do that tonight."

"Ok. Thanks."

Emma took in Rogues appearance. She almost appeared ill.

"Rogue, are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, I'm just nervous about tomorrow."

Emma leaned back in her chair. "And you're worried that a certain Cajun isn't going to show up?"

"He said he would be back, but with him you never know."

"If he doesn't show, we might have to put in someone else."

"I know."

Emma could see that Rogue was becoming aggravated. "What's wrong?"

Rogue began to pace the floor. "Its just that…never mind."

"Tell me."

"Its just that I poured my heart out to him. I mean _really_ poured my heart out. And he just left me. He left even after I practically begged him to stay."

"That's a man thing. They are all the same. You should save yourself a lot of pain and just forget him."

Rogue looked at Emma astonished. "Wow. That sounded bitter. What's going on with you?"

Emma awkwardly shifted in her seat. "Nothing. Lets go buy that dye."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She woke up to birds chirping happily outside her window. She placed a pillow over her head to drown out their chipper tune, but found that it was no use. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, glancing over at the mirror. She stared at the stranger looking back at her. They had dyed her hair the night before, and it came out rather nicely. It further enhanced her eyes more than she thought possible. Yet, she didn't feel like herself. As she took a closer look, she could tell that the color was already beginning to fade in appearance. It seemed that her mutation had other plans when it came to dying her hair.

She glanced at the clock and 9:00 AM was glowing at her in bright green numbers. Her stomach began to twist in knots when she remembered what day it was. Today was the day. The day of their big mission.

She got up and headed to her shower. While she cleaned herself, she couldn't help but feel upset at the little fact that Remy hadn't shown yet. Emma had even talked to Bobby about filling in for the mission.

She felt disappointed and let down.

When she was finished, she stepped out and wrapped her towel around herself. She stepped into her room, half expecting Remy to be in there. When she found that he was not present, the disappointed feeling within her grew stronger. She put on a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt, knowing that it would be a waste for her to dress up until that evening.

As the idea of the mission came back within her thoughts, she became increasingly nervous. The last time she went to a formal dance, things didn't go so smooth. And that was with a group of mutants. This time, they were going to be surrounded by people who had a strong disgust towards the mutant population. The idea that she had to hang around and even act flirtatious with these men sickened her. It would of at least been a little more exciting if Remy were going to be there. She wondered where he had run off too. She also wondered why he wouldn't tell her where he was going. The more she thought about it, the more it angered her.

She had just cried like a baby, and he still took off! It was so typical of him. And right now he was jeopardizing the team by not showing up for the important mission. Because of him, they were being forced to use Bobby, and he wasn't exactly the best candidate for the job. Plus, she had to act like eye candy, and the thought of clinging and being flirtatious with him made her feel weird. He was like a little brother to her, and the situation would be more uncomfortable then it already was. Although, he probably didn't feel the same. He had already bragged to his friends about escorting herself and Emma. He thought he was such a player.

She heard the roar of a motorcycle engine outside, and felt extreme excitement run throughout her body. She ran over to her window to see if it was Remy.

She was once again disappointed when she found that it was Scott. She was about to turn away, but she noticed that he was talking to someone in the garage, someone that she couldn't see because they were out of her line of view. By the look on his face though, they were having a pretty intense conversation. His eyebrows were constantly moving up and down. She saw him pause for what seemed like an eternity, and he ran his hands through his hair in a frustrated manner. He then walked into the garage, and the odd scene was over.

She wondered whom he was talking to. Maybe it was Jean. They hadn't exactly been getting along well recently.

She headed out of her room, and as she turned around she ran right into another person. She suddenly found herself on her behind on the floor.

She looked up and her own eyes met a pair of sad blue ones. Warren quickly offered her his hand. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to talk to you."

She allowed him to help her up. "Warren, we really don't have a lot to talk about."

"But we do. It's not just about what you think I'm here to talk about. Its also about your mission tonight."

She sighed and walked back into her room. "OK. Come in."

As he walked in after her, he attempted to close the door behind him.

She quickly stopped his movement. "I don't think so. The door will stay open. This isn't going to take that long anyway."

Warren looked hurt. "Why, you don't trust me to be on good behavior when the door is closed?"

She arched one eyebrow in his direction. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

He gave her a half smile. "No?"

She tried not to smile. "Good choice."

"Rogue, about tonight, you have to really be careful around these types of guys."

"Warren, I can handle myself just fine."

"I know, but you do have a little bit of a temper when it comes to men, and these guys won't put up with that. You really have a hard part to play tonight because it is totally out of your character."

"Did you in a round about way just call me a bitch?"

"No…I just…I didn't…" He stopped his stuttering when he saw she wore a smile on her face.

"Wow, I walked right into that one didn't I?"

She grinned in his direction. "Yup".

He loved the way her eyes would light up when she would smile. He couldn't control himself any longer. He suddenly crossed the room and forced his mouth on hers.

She stood in shock for a moment, and quickly pushed away from him. She heard someone clear their throat in the hall.

When she turned her head, her heart sank into her stomach when she realized it was Remy. He apparently had just gotten back because his bag was still slung over his shoulder. His face was blank of any emotion when he spoke. "Glad to see that you missed me _Chère."_

She put even more distance between herself and Warren. "Remy, it seriously isn't what it looks like."

He laughed in an antagonizing way. "Come on, even _you _can come up with a better excuse than that."

She made her way over to him. "Its not an excuse, it's the truth!"

She didn't know if he had fully heard her or not because he had already shut his door in her face.

She heard Warren step up behind her. "What's his problem?"

She turned and shoved him out of her way. "Get away from me Warren. And if you ever pull anything like that again, I'll break your arm!"

He became angry from her threat, and then he had a sudden revelation. "You are sweet for that Cajun trash, aren't you? Is that why you never showed me any affection? Because you secretly wished I was him?"

She remained silent, and that was the only answer that he needed.

"You act all innocent, but you are just as bad as the rest of them. I'm lucky I did what I did; otherwise you would have ended up fucking him while I played the oblivious fool! You know what? Have fun tonight. The role of an escort is perfect for you." He quickly turned his back, and left her there enraged.

If her night was going to be anything like her day was starting out, it was going to be a long one.

She turned her attention back to Remy's door.

She knocked hard. "Remy LeBeau, you let me in right now!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment."

"I swear if you don't let me in I am going to break your doorknob and let myself in."

"I said I'm busy."

"Ok. I warned you."

She made quick work of the doorknob, and tossed it on the floor. She opened the door, and immediately regretted her decision.

There in all his glory stood Remy, and he was naked.

She immediately froze. His tan body looked like it was chiseled and carved by Michelangelo himself. Her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, and they traveled further down his form. They reached his fine trail of hair bellow his belly button, and noticed that it led a clear and direct path to his manhood. She tried to avert her eyes, but she couldn't stop herself from staring at it. How did ANY woman handle the size of THAT?

She quickly covered her eyes, mortified. This was her first time, well, seeing a real one of those things, and the scenario wasn't exactly as she thought it would be. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry."

She heard him snicker from across the room. "I told you I was busy. I'm about to take a shower; we have a busy night ahead of us. Want to join me?"

"No. I already took one…I mean I wouldn't take one with you…I mean I would but not now…I mean…."

He laughed at her, and she didn't like it one bit. "You can open your eyes. I'm decent."

She peaked out of one of her eyes, and saw that he was only in a pair of boxers. "Um, that's a little better, I guess."

"I have had women want to be with me before, but I have to say your eagerness impresses me. None of them had ever broken my door to get to me."

She was becoming frustrated at his sarcasm. She decided to get right to the point. "You didn't see what you thought you saw between me and Warren."

His smile quickly faded, and he headed to his bathroom. "You don't owe me any explanations."

"Yes I do—" She turned bright red and turned quickly as he stepped out of his boxers and stepped in his shower. "He kissed me and surprised me. Don't be stupid, you know I don't care about him."

"What ever you say _Chère._"

"Remy, I'm serious!"

When she got no reply, she decided to change the subject. "So, where did you go?"

No answer.

"What are you trying to hide?"

"Just because you're guilty and feel the need to explain yourself doesn't mean that I have to."

"I was explaining the truth to you because you didn't give me the opportunity to when you slammed your door in my face!"

"Whatever. Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

Her hot temper got the better of her, and she rushed out of his room.

Yup. Tonight was going to be a long one.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As the day continued to progress, she became more nervous about their upcoming mission. The little event started at 8:00 PM, and the last thing that she wanted to be was late; that definitely would send a red flag to the Trask members.

She glanced at the clock and noticed it was 5:15. She inhaled deeply, trying to release some of her nervousness. Emma should be here any minute because she was going to do her hair.

Right on time, Emma entered her room without knocking. She had a woman following her. "Rogue, this is Dee. She will be doing your hair for tonight."

Rogue looked at her confused. "I thought you were going to do it?"

Emma burst out laughing, and stopped when she saw the confused look on Rogue's face. She put her hand on her chest before she spoke. "Oh, you were serious. No dear, I don't even do my own hair for these kinds of events. Dee here is fantastic. She will know what to do."

At the mention of her name, the short, thick woman came over and pulled Rogue's hair out of her ponytail. She held it up to inspect it. "You're hair appears healthy and has a natural curl to it; we will use that to our advantage." She turned around the room trying to locate something. "Where is your dress?"

Rogue pointed to her closet. The woman went over and shuffled through her belongings like they were her own. She found the dress still wrapped in its plastic covering. She ripped the plastic off, and held it up. She must have turned it from front to back at least six times. She finally spoke. "Its very sexy yet sophisticated at the same time. That's how we are going to do your hair. The back is very low, so we definitely want to pull your hair up to allow your skin to show. No use of having a back like that on a dress and not showing it off. Your make up can't go wrong with the triple 'S' look."

Rogue looked at her, confused. "Triple 'S' look?"

The woman looked at Emma, and then rolled her eyes back over to Rogue's direction. "Yes, the Triple 'S' look. Sexy, Sultry, and Smokey. It works every time."

Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "That's fine, but I was just going to keep everything simple."

The other woman took a step back and looked insulted.

Emma stepped over to her southern friend. "Dee knows what she's doing. Just let her do it."

About an hour later, Rogue found herself being stared at by this Dee woman. She took a step back and tilted her head to the side, as if she were admiring a piece of art. She looked at Emma, and spoke. "This is why I'm the best. Go look in the mirror."

Rogue stood up, and was amazed at her reflection. Her make up made her look like a glamorous movie star, and she loved it. She could see why the triple 'S' look would never fail. Her hair was swept up and gathered at the base of her neck, and hung closer to her right ear. It looked like it was woven together in a loose, perfect and impossible way. There were a few tendrils of hair that that hung loosely around her face.

She turned and gleamed over at the other two women. "I look like a different person!"

The other woman began to pack up her things. "Well my job is done. Thank you ladies."

Rogue once again was confused. "What do you mean? Emma still needs her hair done."

The other woman seemed to ignore her, and headed out of the room.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

Emma stopped her. "She isn't fixing me up tonight."

"Why? Are you doing it yourself?"

"No."

"Ok…so what are you doing?"

Emma walked over to the mirror, and began to mess with her hair, turning from side to side examining herself. "Nothing."

Rogue had no idea what was going on. It wasn't like Emma to not care what she looked like when they went out in public.

Emma saw Rogue looking at her in the mirror's reflection, and slowly turned around. "I'm not going tonight. You and Gambit will have to handle it."

Rogue felt a sense of panic beginning to manifest in her chest. "What do you mean? I can't do this by myself!"

Emma nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. "You wont be by yourself. You will be with Gambit."

The panic in her chest was slowly forming into anger. "You have to go. We have planned this for weeks. There is no excuse in the world that is good enough to explain why you can't go!"

Emma sat on Rogue's bed, a look of worry on her face. "Trust me. My reason is a really, really good one."

Rogue was becoming impatient. "Well what is it?"

Emma looked very out of character, she appeared very nervous and her hands were anxiously rubbing together.

"At these functions, there is rowdiness and drinking and—"

Rogue cut her off. "Exactly. Sounds like your type of party. Get your ass up and get ready!"

"I can't!"

Rogue felt like pulling out her hair in frustration. "WHY?"

Emma looked into her eyes, and stated calmly, "Because, I'm pregnant."

**To be continued…**

**Don't kill me just yet…the next chapter will go right into the date/mission, and maybe some juicy lemony stuff. We'll see. **


	12. Look Who's Back

**Chapter 12: Look Who's Back**

She was dreaming.

She had to be dreaming.

Because there was no way in HELL that she had heard Emma correctly.

"Excuse me?"

Emma rolled her eyes, for what seemed like the umpteenth time since she had set foot in the mansion. "Don't make the situation more awkward then it already is."

Rogue stood still, waiting for Emma to continue her explanation. However, after five minutes of silence, she became a little more than annoyed.

"What do you mean you're pregnant? How the hell did that happen?"

Emma looked at her with one blonde eyebrow raised. "Well, when a man and a woman love each other, or like each other, or just want to get laid—"

Rogue quickly threw her hands up in the air. "Stop. Just stop. I'm serious. Who is the father?"

Emma continued to stare. "Do you really need to ask?"

Rogue had a series of thoughts run through her head. To be honest, she started going through the process of elimination…the only person it could be…was Scott. It all made sense. She must have been the one he was talking to in the garage the other day. Another realization suddenly hit her.

"Does Jean know?"

"Why, are you going to run and tell her?"

"I'm not, but you and Scott sure the hell are!"

Emma stood from Rogue's bed. "You know, I'm not exactly thrilled about the whole situation either. I'm not exactly what one would consider 'mother material'."

Rogue didn't want to hear it. "Well maybe you should have considered that before you had unprotected sex with someone's fiancé! And not just anybody, but our team leader?"

"It's not like I forced him to do it!"

Rogue placed her hand on her hip. "Are you sure?"

"Are you saying that I used my telepathy to get him to fuck me?"

"Did you?"

For the first time in her life, Emma Grace Frost felt like she was going to cry because her _feelings _were genuinely hurt. Damn pregnancy hormones.

"I don't need this." She turned and started to head towards the door.

Rogue flew over and blocked her exit. "Wait, I'm sorry. I'm beginning to learn that I am the type of person who CANNOT handle surprises."

"Obviously."

The two once again stood in silence.

"Just so you know, I didn't plan it. I didn't scheme or connive, it just _happened_. And it was one time. I actually felt bad afterwards. Can you believe it? Me! Feeling bad?"

Rogue went to her and tenderly placed a hand on her shoulder. "I actually can."

Emma lowered herself back down on Rogue's bed, and suddenly began to sob.

"Look at me! I can't even handle a pregnancy properly!"

"Have you told Scott yet?

"Yes. The worst part about it is that he actually took it really well."

Rogue thought back to the scene by the garage. To her, he didn't appear to be taking it that well.

"Emma, the other day he looked…slightly frustrated." She knew that she had to choose her words carefully to keep Emma from bursting into hormonal tears.

"That's because I told him I was considering giving it up, but I just cant bring myself to do it."

"So, _does _Jean know?"

Emma nodded her head. "Yup." She started to hiccup with sobs again. "I told Scott that I couldn't help how I feel. That I loved him and wanted to be with him."

She then unexpectedly laughed sardonically. "He told me that he cares for me immensely, but he loves _her._ He told her that very day."

Rogue was actually surprised. She was extremely mad at Emma and Scott for what they had done to poor Jean, but at least they had the decency to tell her about it. She was also shocked at Jeans cool conduct that past week despite the situation.

Rogue sat down besides her heaving mess of a friend. "How did she handle it?"

Emma wiped at her eyes. "How one would expect. She slapped him, called me a few choice words. None that I haven't been called before. But she said that they would work things out, and I could work my way out of their life. She even started talking about visitation arrangements!"

Despite the messed up situation, Rogue had to try hard not to smile. Jean was a planner, and she tried to make the best out of every circumstance, no matter how complicated it was.

"How far along are you?"

"About six weeks. That's the worst part! It was so early that I didn't want him to tell her yet. But Mr. Bold and Noble had different plans."

"Well are you sure you are? I read that some women don't find out until they are further along in their pregnancy." Rogue learned a lot of valuable information when she watched the show _I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant._

"Oh trust me, I know. I'm a telepath. I could sense the neural connection of the brain as soon as it attached."

Rogue nervously looked at the clock. It was 6:45 PM. Although her makeup was already done, she still needed to get dressed. As much as she wanted to stay and comfort Emma, she did have a very important mission to attend to.

Luckily, Emma chose that moment to change the topic herself. "Anyway, now you know. I would appreciate it if you kept that information to yourself. Lets get you in your dress."

Rogue lifted her dress from the bed, and brought it with her in the bathroom. Her nerves were far from calm and collected. She felt bad for Emma, but the timing was just absolutely horrible. She didn't know if she could handle the mission without her.

She shook her whole body to relieve some of the tension. She had learned that little bit of advice from Logan. It actually did help.

She turned her attention back towards her dress. She cut the tag off, and stepped into the fabric, pulling it up along her curves. There was a very slim zipper on the side, and after she effectively maneuvered herself into the fabric, she pulled it up. She looked at herself in the mirror. The dress hugged her body more than she thought it would. But overall, she though she looked decent enough.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, Emma had already cleaned herself up. She caught a glimpse of Rogue and sighed.

"That dress is marvelous. I'm surprised that you're comfortable showing that much skin."

"I'm not, but I have a role to play."

She glanced over, and saw that it was seven o'clock exactly. It took about forty-five minutes to reach their destination, so she had to get a move on.

"I'll be back tomorrow. We'll talk then, ok?"

Emma nodded her head in response. "Ok. Be careful. You can do this."

"I hope so."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

What was the deal with women? No matter how much a certain time is stressed, they still take forever to get ready. One would think that they simply would start their complicated process of 'beautifying' themselves earlier so they were on time.

He had been waiting in the foyer for a good twenty minutes. Him and Rogue weren't exactly on the best of terms at the moment, and this sure wasn't helping. He glanced at his watch for the fifth time that night. He felt a twitch in his eye, and reached up to rub it. He hated wearing contacts, colored or not.

Remy heard the familiar clicking of high heels on the hard wood floors. _About time._

He heard her coming down the stairs behind him, and he refused to turn in her direction. He was annoyed and ready to get the mission started.

"Sorry I'm a little late. We'll still be on time."

"I hope so—"

He turned to speak with her, and felt his words float away with his breath.

Her hair was fashioned simply and elegantly, and decorated with some type of small, decorative diamond piece by the base of her neck. Her white streaks were hidden by dye because of their mission, but she still looked very, VERY appealing. Her eyes had always been beautiful, and even though he previously thought it to be impossible, those emerald jewels were even further enhanced and absolutely glistening.

Her jewelry was simple, but he couldn't concentrate on that right now.

That dress.

He would have to find out the name of the designer and send them a thank you note.

The color matched her eyes perfectly, and it clung to her body like it was molded just for her. Her mounds of ample flesh sat perfectly full and lush on her chest. He could even see the contour of her impeccably shaped body beneath the fabric.

"I forgot my clutch. I'll be right back."

If he didn't think her appearance could get any better, he was wrong. As she turned to retrieve her item, he saw the most spectacular sight he had ever seen in his adult life, and he had seen a lot.

The back went so extremely low, that he was certain if she turned a certain way, he would be able to see the top of her round, perfect ass. Her skin looked mouthwatering to the eyes, and he was sure that just to touch it would send him over the edge. She had that delicate, feminine curve down to the very bottom of her lower back, and it flared below her waist and morphed to form her succulent, luscious curves. The dress flowed to the ground and finally released itself from her body in the form of a slight train.

She turned back towards him. "Lets go."

"Is Emma not going?"

She seemed to become slightly flustered. "No…she doesn't feel well."

The color that rose to her cheeks made her appearance even more appealing.

Thank God he was wearing colored contacts, because he was pretty sure that his eyes were burning bright scarlet at the moment.

He cleared his throat. "After you."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She knew he was going to be pissed. Even though it was only seven, he originally wanted to get going around 6:45.

She rushed to make her way down the stairs, knowing that he was probably frustrated at her tardiness. As she caught her first sight of him, she felt a swell of lust run throughout her body. He was dressed to perfection in his suit, and looked very clean cut and almost edgy. His form looked irresistible through his clothing, and she blushed at the thought of what was underneath all of it. She wished she could see him like that again soon.

As he turned towards her, he seemed to hesitate for a moment. She noticed he was wearing brown colored contacts, and instantly wished she could see his natural eyes. It seemed like he took a moment to study her, and she began to feel self-conscious. Maybe her dress didn't look as good as she thought it did.

She needed to move away from his judging glare. She made an excuse.

"I forgot my clutch."

She quickly walked to the nearby coat rack where she had hung it previously.

She turned, and noticed that he hadn't moved an inch.

"Let's go."

"Is Emma not going?"

"No…she doesn't feel well."

It almost looked like he was snapped out of a deep thought. He shook his head, and offered her his arm. "After you."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They made it to their destination with only a few minutes to spare. When they pulled up in their limo, both were shocked at the massive size of the place. It definitely gave Xavier's mansion some competition.

She turned to him, making sure that their briefing was on the same page. "Remy, your Daniel Reis, a scum bag lawyer who just recently became a member of Trask last month. You obviously originate from New Orleans, but you moved up here to join. You think all mutants are filthy because your wife left you for one.

He smirked in her direction. "Once they see me, they'll know that cannot possibly be true."

She wanted to smack him. How could he joke at a time like this? "Right now is not the time Remy. Now all you need to know about me is—"

He cut her off. "Nothing. Your name is Brandy, and you are my escort. Trust me, none of these fools actually care to get to know their women intellectually, they only want to get to know them _internally_, if you know what I mean."

It took her a brief moment before she understood. She looked at him with an expression of disgust clear on her face. Before she could reply, he spoke again.

"Well _Chère,_ lets get this over with, shall we?"

She knew that he was talking about the mission, but it sounded almost as if he was directing it towards her.

She reached for his arm, and plastered a smile on her face.

They followed a sidewalk surrounded by shrubbery, until they came to the main entrance. Of course, it was guarded with bouncers.

She nonchalantly looked around, pretending to admire the estate. She immediately noticed hidden guards through out the property. Emma was right when she said that it would be heavily guarded.

They made their way to the door, being stopped by a very large man.

He didn't even look up from his list when he spoke. "Name."

"Daniel Reis, and guest."

"Identification."

Rogue reached within her clutch and presented the large man two I.D's that Emma had obtained for them.

The man finally glanced up at them. He looked Rogue up and down. A slow smile crept across his dark features. "Mr. Reis, you've done well."

Rogue wanted to punch the man in his face, but instead she smiled sweetly in his direction, and dipped her neck. Slightly.

Remy didn't miss a beat. "Yes. She is a beautiful specimen, but these types show their true beauty and talent when they are…less clothed."

The man let out a low laugh, and Remy smiled in her direction. She kept the smile plastered on her face. She couldn't stand him. She spoke sweetly, while enhancing her smooth, honey like accent.

"I have been trained well to work with any type of client and to accommodate them the best that I can, even if those _accommodations_ are very tiny and limited."

Remy's smile faded, and Rogue smugly turned her head.

She realized that she might have made a dire mistake when the bouncer's look darkened. "You dare speak out of your place?"

When she didn't reply, he burst out laughing. She felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"You've got yourself a feisty one Mr. Reis, make sure she takes it down a notch inside, or else I will bring her home with me and show her how a lady of her rank should act."

Remy spoke to the man as if he had known him for years. "If she does it again, you can have her for the night, free of charge."

The two shared knowing looks, and they finally were admitted entrance.

Remy looked over at her, and gave her a lop sided grin.

She realized what her role would be tonight. To just shut up and look pretty, only speak when spoken too, that kind of sexist crap.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, and brought her in close as they walked down a long hall that would lead them to the ballroom. "I suggest you start acting like I'm the sexiest thing on this earth and you can't wait to get me out of here and tear my clothes off."

He was going to eat up every moment of this. "Fine. But don't forget why we are here."

She grabbed onto his arm and caressed her hands along his chest as they approached their destination.

"That's better."

If looks could kill, he would be dead right now.

As they entered the ballroom, she was surprised at how crowded it actually was. For being an elite group, there sure were a lot of members.

She felt the eyes of men staring at her with lust and longing, and the eyes of women staring at her in jealousy.

He wrapped one arm around her waist, and dipped his head close to hers. "When you need to speak to me, just make it appear like you are whispering seductively in my ear. They'll buy it."

She knew her next move would be daring, but she proceeded without caution. She ran her finger along his ear, and beckoned him to lower himself to her height. She pressed her body firmly towards his, and gave a delicate nibble to his earlobe. She immediately felt his hardened response, and she grinned to herself. She whispered, "So something like this should be ok?"

His breathing became slightly quicker in pace. "That'll work."

She laughed, and sent him a psychic message. _You forget that I can use Jean's or Emma's telepathy._

He gave her a startled look, and for once, she got to give him a smirk of her own.

She turned with a newfound confidence towards the crowd. She could do this.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Two hours later, she was becoming worried. They only held this dance one damn time a year, and they hadn't even had a glimpse of the man of the night. William Stuart apparently was hard to detect. She had had to put up with constant pointless conversations, and hadn't gotten any closer to finding Mr. Stuart or anything of valuable information. The only upside was she got to feel on Remy when and wherever she wanted. She didn't think that he minded so much either. She looked up at him, admiring his profile. He noticed her staring at him, and he turned to her and spoke.

"You like the way Remy cleans up?"

"Do you like the way I clean up?"

Both knew that the other fully appreciated the way that they had presented themselves this evening.

Remy brought her closer. "_Tu est tres jolie."_

She had taken some French in high school, and he had just told her that she was beautiful. She blushed slightly and moved closer towards him.

"You want to dance _Chère?"_

She couldn't contain her smile. "Sure."

He led her to the dance floor amongst the other couples, and encased her small hand within his. She looked up and noticed the look that he held within his eyes. She was now experienced enough to know what it meant. She proceeded to stand on her toes so she could reach his mouth. He saw her movement, and lowered himself to meet her half way. A drunken, obnoxious guest interrupted the moment.

He couldn't have been any older than thirty. He had obviously been drinking too much when he smacked her on the ass, and then addressed Remy. "Oh no! I see the look in your eye! Don't fall for these types. It's all an act you know. Its their profession."—His last word caused droplets of spit to leave his mouth and land on Remy's cheek. Remy wiped it of with a finger, rather annoyed at the interruption.

"Thanks for the advice."

The drunken man turned to Rogue, and took a moment to look her over. "I can see why he's lost himself in you. You are the most attractive woman here. You should come with me—" _hiccup _ "—to my room."

Rogue had to take a step back. His breath reeked strongly of alcohol.

She remembered her role. "I apologize sir, but I am escorting Mr. Reis this evening."

The man stumbled back slightly. "Don't know the name. You don't want to be here with a nobody, do you?"

She was becoming impatient. "Mr. Reis is very well known in—"

The drunk cut her off again. "Doesn't matter, he's nothing compared to William Stuart."

Rogue and Remy gave a quick glance to each other.

She decided to put on a show. She walked over and leaned herself on the man, which was a hard task because he could barely manage to stand up straight. "I have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Stuart this evening. Do you know where he is at?"

The man smiled at her with his eyes half shut. "You're lookin' at him."

She quickly had to hide the surprise on her face. Out of all the people here, she would have never picked this guy out of the bunch to be their target.

Remy noticed her hesitation, and stepped in. He stuck out his right hand. "Pleased to make your acquaintance Mr. Stuart. We have heard so much about you."

The man went to stick his hand out, and missed Remy's hand completely.

The man suddenly turned his attention back to Rogue. "How about you and me head up to my room? Have a few glasses of champagne?"

Rogue didn't hesitate with her answer; she knew what she had to do.

"I would be honored."

Remy abruptly stepped in. "I'm sorry Mr. Stuart, but she has already been paid with my funds, and is mine until tomorrow."

"Shall I remind you that you are a guest in my house?"

Rogue sent him a psychic message. _Remy, I have to go up there. You know I can handle myself. Just wait for me in the limo, ok? If I am not down back down there in an hour, you can come looking for me._

The drunken man didn't catch the series of facial expressions that Remy just went though.

Remy gave a slight bow. "Very well. I will wait in the limo."

She nodded her head, and she was soon taken out of the ballroom towards a very grand staircase.

She made it to the second floor, which was a big accomplishment considering the man leading her looked like he was about to keel over.

When they made it to his room, he actually took out a key and placed it into the lock. When the door swung open, he gestured for her to walk in.

She walked in and took in her surroundings. It was a rather large room, and it was heavily decorated with elaborate furnishings. It seemed almost pathetic how hard he tried to show off his wealth.

She was brought back to her senses when she heard a clicking noise behind her. So, the sly bastard had locked the door.

She turned around and noticed that he was loosening up his bow tie. He spoke with slurred words. "So, you like the party?"

"It was nice."

"I'm glad you had fun. Now shut up and do your job."

She smiled internally. The bastard had no idea what he was up against.

She batted her eyelashes and walked towards him. When she came directly in front of him, she realized that her part wasn't going to be that hard. The man's eyes were closed and he was swaying back and forth. She reached her hands up around his neck, and used her own mutation.

She had only done it for a second, and the man was already out. He was already so drunk, that when he came to he would just figure that he passed out. She glanced around his room to make sure there were no hidden cameras. She criticized herself. She should have checked for those first. When she found the room was clear, she hoisted him up and tossed him in his bed. She then brushed her hands off and proceeded to go through the room.

She looked in drawers, in usual hiding spots, even under the mattress, but she found nothing. She was quickly becoming frustrated. Her time was running out.

She thought of just flying out the window, and having a look in the different windows throughout the mansion, but quickly decided against that because of all the security.

Instead, she unlocked his door, and cautiously stuck her head out into the hallway. When she was sure the coast was clear, she proceeded to leave the room and do some exploring.

She ensued to look in all of the rooms on the level. She was disappointed when she discovered most of them were guest rooms. Seriously, how many guest rooms did a person need?

She knew that there was another floor above her, and set out to go up the other staircase.

When she reached the third floor, she once again proceeded to go through the numerous rooms. At least it didn't appear to have as many on this floor.

She noticed it had almost been an hour already, and she knew that Remy was probably getting anxious. She was about to give up, when the door at the end of the hall grabbed her attention.

It was the only room she had seen so far that's door was actually closed. She glanced around as a precaution, and quickly headed towards it.

When she tried to turn the handle, she found that it was locked. She had to make a decision. The only option she had was to break the door, and she wasn't too fond of that idea because she REALLY didn't want to leave any indication that someone had messed with Mr. Stuart's stuff. That could be a disaster. If she had absorbed Kitty's powers in the past, this would be a walk in the park. She really had to look into asking Kitty when she went back home.

If she found anything of value, and he found it gone, the whole operation would most likely be moved or changed, and that would truly be a shame because she felt like she was close to finding something.

"You really would make a horrible thief."

She nearly screamed, until she turned and found herself face to face with Remy.

She whispered angrily, "What the hell is wrong with you? You're supposed to wait in the car!"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I got bored."

She took a moment to look into his eyes. She gave a grin and cocked her hip out, crossing her arms in the process.

He was beyond confused. "What?"

"You were worried about me. Admit it, you care about me!"

He looked at her strangely. "Never said that I didn't."

She guessed that was his way of trying to make amends. If they had been anywhere else than here, she would have crashed her mouth upon his. She decided to get back to business.

She cleared her throat to signal the subject change. "Do you think you can pick this?"

It seemed that he had the lock picked before she even finished her sentence. He cautiously opened the door.

Rogue stepped in right behind him. They had found the main office. Jackpot.

She immediately went to the large desk and started rummaging through the drawers. She found nothing of value, and became frustrated when she looked up and saw Remy just leaning against a wall.

"Umm, aren't you going to help me?"

"You just look so cute when you are obsessively determined. Besides, you are looking in the wrong spot."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's in that safe"

She looked about the room, and couldn't locate any safe. She turned around and looked at him like he was nuts. "I don't see any safe."

"That's because it's a stealth safe."

She had a blank look on her face.

He pushed himself off of the wall and walked towards a couch that was positioned at the far end of the room.

She still didn't get it. "Remy, that's just a couch."

"It sure is. How many people keep a couch in their private office? They maybe have one or two chairs, tops, but that's about it.'

She suddenly understood. "You meant that the couch is actually—"

"His safe." He finished for her. He went towards it and flipped the cushions off. Low and behold, there was a safe built into the base, with a flat screen panel for a code entry.

She was rather impressed. "How did you know that?"

He raised an eyebrow in her direction. "I'm the prince of thieves _Chère. _It would be a shame if I didn't notice it."

She became concerned when she noticed it had a keypad, and not the conventional twist dial lock. "How will we figure out the code?"

"These number pads only take a four digit code. This will be easy."

He charged the tip of his finger, and brought the red light to the pad. The red hue of the light enhanced the smudges that were on four of the number keys. He reabsorbed his charge, and got to work plugging in different series of numbers that included the numbers two, nine, six, and five.

She looked towards him. "Wow. That's a neat trick."

"Yeah. It has its perks."

After his forth attempt, there was a popping noise, and he lifted the door open.

Inside there were normal items that one would expect to find in a safe, like money and jewelry. But off to the right there was a plain manila folder. Rogue grabbed it, and immediately began to search through its contents.

It appeared to be some sort of contract, written by Mr. Stuart himself. It was a legal agreement between himself and…Sinister. It basically discussed options for the funding of some kind of project. It was simply called Project 4567. How clever.

Further back there were signed documents by Sinister and….

Sebastian Shaw!

She knew that bastard was in on what ever it was, but why? The document must have been older since it had his signature on it.

She continued to glance over the file, and it discussed protection for the both of them. She was beyond confused.

"I found something. Let's get outta here."

They both stood and quickly rushed out of the room. Remy locked the door before they shut it behind them.

She couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement. She actually had something of use, and would probably find out more once she had a chance to read it over.

Her happy demeanor was quickly interrupted when she heard a voice. "What are you two doing up here? This area is off limits to guests!"

Remy didn't miss a beat. He answered before she even had a chance to turn around.

"I apologize. I was trying to locate a private section to get better…acquainted with my guest." He brought her close to him.

Rogue turned around, and stood completely still from shock. Her heartbeat had significantly increased, and she felt extremely short of breath.

The man was Shaw.

Sebastian Shaw.

**To be continued…**

**Thanks again for all the awesome reviews. Sorry for the short a/n, but I had to post this from my phone because I am having computer problems. Damn technology.**


	13. Finally

**A/N: I have returned. So let me tell you guys what happened. I was having CONSTANT headaches, and my Dr. told me I was having tension headaches. Well, one day while I was at work, the right side of my body went numb, and I couldn't talk. I had to be rushed to the hospital, and it turned out that I had spinal meningitis. I had to have four spinal taps because I had so much fluid in my spine, and it was putting pressure on my brain. So I was in the hospital for almost three weeks, and had to catch up with school stuff when I was released. SOOOOO that is what happened. I am good to go now, sooo on with the fic! Thanks for all of the reviews! Oh yeah…there are some mature rated themes up ahead. You have been warned **

**Previously on **_**Testing Boundaries **_**Chapter 12**

_It appeared to be some sort of contract, written by Mr. Stuart himself. It was a legal agreement between himself and…Sinister. It basically discussed options for the funding of some kind of project. It was simply called Project 4567. How clever._

_Further back there were signed documents by Sinister and…._

_Sebastian Shaw!_

_She knew that bastard was in on what ever it was, but why? The document must have been older since it had his signature on it._

_She continued to glance over the file, and it discussed protection for the both of them. She was beyond confused. _

"_I found something. Let's get outta here."_

_They both stood and quickly rushed out of the room. Remy locked the door before they shut it behind them._

_She couldn't help but feel giddy with excitement. She actually had something of use, and would probably find out more once she had a chance to read it over._

_Her happy demeanor was quickly interrupted when she heard a voice. "What are you two doing up here? This area is off limits to guests!"_

_Remy didn't miss a beat. He answered before she even had a chance to turn around._

"_I apologize. I was trying to locate a private section to get better…acquainted with my guest." He brought her close to him._

_Rogue turned around, and stood completely still from shock. Her heartbeat had significantly increased, and she felt extremely short of breath._

_The man was Shaw._

_Sebastian Shaw._

**To be continued…**

**Chapter 13**

"**Finally"**

She immediately felt her heart beat pick up at a rapid pace. She was panicking, and didn't know what her next move should be. She quickly looked around, looking for the closest escape route.

The man in front of her looked very different, but it was definitely Shaw.

He had lost some weight, which in turn made his face look sunken in and even more eerie than it was before. It was probably due to him living on the streets for a short time. His hair was much shorter, and he appeared to be more dressed down than all of the other guests.

Remy's empathy quickly picked up on her sudden fear, and he brought her closer to his side. She was rigid in his grip, and he could feel her muscles twitching in anticipation. The man obviously had a big impact on her, and he would have to find out why. But that would have to come later. Right now, they had some very important documents on them, and if they were caught, they both were as good as dead.

The man continued to stare at her. She prayed that he wouldn't recognize her.

He tilted his head and squinted his eyes a bit in her direction. "You look very familiar. Have we met before?"

She continued to stare at the man in front of her. It appeared that he didn't have a clue who she was, but the situation still made her extremely uneasy.

Why the hell was he here? How did he even _get_ here?

She was brought back to her senses when Remy nudged her in her side. "The gentleman is speaking to you_ Brandy._"

She quickly cleared her throat, hoping that he didn't notice her nervous hesitation. "Um, no. I'm sorry. I don't think we have met."

Shaw raised one eyebrow, and seemed to buy it. "Sorry about that. As of recently, my memory hasn't been that great. But back to the point, you both can't be up here. These rooms are closed off. Mr. Stuart doesn't allow the party guest on this floor."

Remy spoke up for the first time. "Again, I apologize. I wanted some alone time with her, if you know what I mean. May I ask what your name is?"

An odd look passed over Shaw's face, as if Remy had just asked him for his social security number. "It's Shaw. Sebastian Shaw."

Rogue eyed him suspiciously. If he remembered who he was, why didn't he remember her? She couldn't resist the temptation to snoop through his mind, so she did.

She quickly shifted through his mess of thoughts, and found that it was all in shambles. But there was one thing for certain that stuck out clearly in the jumbled mess. He was found, and was informed by what he considered "strangers" of whom he really was. He had no sense of identity what so ever.

The question was how did he get here, and why.

She quickly pulled herself from his mind, and was debating on whether or not she should just fly all of them out of the window. She hated the man in front of her, and wanted to do everything in her power to take him back with them. She quickly shook the thought from her head. That stint would surely end up with them being severely injured, or even worse. She could never put Remy's life in danger like that.

Oblivious to what had just transpired, Remy spoke up. "Well Mr. Shaw, if guest are not allowed up here, why are you here?"

She held her breath at Remy's abrasive forwardness. It made no difference to her, the man known as Shaw was ruthless and cunning, and she didn't want Remy to stir up that emotion within him.

The other man seemed to be thinking extremely hard. His eyes seemed distant, as if he had to really think with great intensity over the simple question. A blank looked soon crossed his face, and he became clueless. "I…I don't know. I need to talk to the Doctor…he is helping me with—"

He was suddenly cut off by another voice, which sounded almost alien when it spoke. "That is quite enough Mr. Shaw. You have bored the guest long enough."

Rogue was so consumed with Shaw, that she didn't even notice the other presence behind her. She wanted to kick herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. It could have been a fatal mistake. When she turned around, it took everything in her power not to scream. The man that stood before her was absolutely terrifying. His skin was the same color as a corpse, and he had an odd marking of some sort on his forehead. His eyes were blood red and crazed, and when he spoke, she could see that his teeth were razor sharp in appearance. Based on what Mystique had told her, she immediately knew that this man had to be Sinister.

She unconsciously took a step back.

He sensed her movement. "Don't be frightened. I am just Mr. Stuarts… Physician."

The man was lying through his teeth.

He turned his attention back towards Mr. Shaw. Addressing him with a sense of frustration in his voice "I told you to stay in…your room."

The other man looked ashamed. "I had to go to the bathroom. I forgot where my room was at."

Mr. Sinister glared at the man as if he were a small cockroach. He returned his attention towards them both. "You'll have to excuse my friend. He suffers from dementia, but we are trying to straighten that out."

Rogue couldn't believe what was happening. The man that was Shaw was nothing like the man she had encountered before, which was a good thing. He was insecure and uncertain, and he appeared to rely heavily on Sinister for a sense of identity. The whole ironic part about the whole situation was that neither of them knew it was her that had put him in this state.

She quickly decided that they needed to play their part. They were at a party full of people that hated mutants. Why on earth would Stuart allow two in his home? She knew that they were working together for some reason, but allowing them to stay at his home was a little risky. She tried to sound snobby and stuck up when she voiced her opinion. She knew how mutant haters acted; she had had plenty of run-ins with them

"Are you actually speaking to Mr. Reis, mutant?"

A dark shadow crept over his already scary features. "I am no mutant. I look this way because I have a rare medical condition."

Once again the man was lying through his teeth.

As if on cue, thunder began to rumble outside the windows, causing the glass to shake.

While all of this was transpiring, Remy carefully maneuvered their precious evidence down within his waistline. They couldn't jeopardize this mission. He pretended to be furious with Rogue's comment. "I apologize for her forwardness. She has forgotten her place."

He pretended to snatch her up by her arm "You have ten seconds to make it to the car before I beat you senseless."

Rogue immediately recognized that he was giving her an escape route. Without saying a word she nodded and began to hurry down the stairs.

Sinister appeared to have bought the act; he had a smug look upon his face as if he had just won some sort of battle.

"Don't damage her to badly. She is a fine specimen."

Remy only nodded, and started to go after her. Before he made it to the stairs, he heard Sinister address him. "Mr. Reis, are you coming to the next gathering?"

Remy stopped in his tracks. They could use this information to their advantage. "Of course. Where is it again?"

"Here In four months time. No formal affair, just the normal meeting. And bring your guest, she is very entertaining."

"Of course. I wouldn't miss it."

He quickly hurried down the stairs. There was something about that man that made him extremely uncomfortable.

He made it down to the first floor, and found Rogue there waiting for him. She seemed relieved to see that he was okay. He gave her a reassuring smile and guided her towards the main entrance.

When they exited the mansion, heavy droplets of rain immediately pounded them. They both ran quickly to the parked Limo.

Bobby had been given the job as chauffer, and immediately got out to open the door for them both.

When they were all in the car, Rogue appeared to be visibly shaking. Remy attempted to comfort her by quickly scooting closer to her and wrapping his arm around her. "You ok _Chère?"_

"That was him Remy. That was the man that locked me up with Ms. Marvel."

He was surprised from the news. She must have been terrified. He brought her closer to him. "The scary looking one?"

"No. The one that had no idea who he was."

"How do you know it was him?"

"Because I am the one who did it to him."

Remy knew that Rogue was a powerful mutant, but the idea that she could wipe someone's brain clean made him a little uneasy.

He decided to change the topic to ease some of her tension. "So who was the other guy?"

"That has to be Sinister. Remy what am I going to do? He said that he was working on Shaw's memory. If he regains it he will come after me."

"Not while I'm around _Chère."_

His tone was so sincere, that she immediately felt better. Her mood suddenly shifted from scared to determined. "Remy, we have to call the others. We have to take them all down, tonight!"

"Slow down _petite. _We can't do that yet."

She abruptly turned towards him, astonished at his cool demeanor. "We have to! If we don't the whole operation could be moved to a different location! Then we will be right back at square one." She was trying her best not to yell.

"If we run in guns blazing, it will ruin everything. We don't have enough information yet. Don't worry, they aren't goin' anywhere. It's too risky. And besides, they don't have anywhere to go to. We ruined his lab, remember?"

She did. They had completely destroyed what was left of it.

He continued, "They are staying close to Stuart not only because he is funding them for some reason, but also for the protection. They're not leaving. I bet my life on it. We will tell the others everything tomorrow."

Rogue knew that he knew what he was talking about. He had years of experience when it came to reading people and figuring them out, but that still didn't help her from shaking the feeling of uneasiness within her gut.

"Sinister said that there is a meeting in four months. We could go and try to get more information; maybe snoop around a bit more. Now we have more of an in."

She shivered at the thought of having to see the man again. "Lucky us."

He gave a half grin in her direction. "By the way, what ever happened to your new boyfriend?"

She raised her eyebrow in his direction. She had no idea to what he was referring to. "Huh?"

"Mr. Stuart. He was quite taken with you."

She let out a dry laugh. "I barely had to absorb him. He was so drunk, he nearly keeled over on his own. Such a charming individual, that one."

When she turned to look at him, he raised his hands and rubbed at the front of her hair. He then pulled his fingers back and examined them. "Looks like the dye is running off from the rain."

She quickly took out a small mirror from her clutch, and took in her appearance. Apparently, her mutation didn't allow dye to stay on her hair.

"Shit! I hope it doesn't run on my dress!" She quickly looked down at herself to make sure there were no visible stains.

He let out a throaty laugh. "The dress is fine. You looked amazing in it, by the way."

She felt her face redden from his comment. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

The two shared a look of appreciation, which was soon cut short from Bobby.

The front window that separated the driver from the passengers began to roll down. "Hey guys, I don't mean to ruin your precious moment, but Emma said that there was a high chance that you would get tailed because you're a new member or whatever. Am I dropping you guys off at a hotel or something?"

Rogue all of the sudden felt very giddy and nervous. She had almost completely forgotten that she would be staying the night with Remy.

Remy scooted up and handed a piece of paper through the small window. "Take us to that address."

Bobby looked at the piece of paper, and quickly looked up again. "Dude, this address is like thirty minutes in the opposite direction. Couldn't I just take you guys to the Hilton on the way back to the mansion?"

Remy huffed in response to the request. "That address is not a hotel, it's a penthouse suite."

Rogue eyed him suspiciously. "You have a penthouse?"

"One of the perks of being a thief _Chère__. _We have safe houses all over the country."

"I would think that a safe house would be a little less flashy."

He smirked in her direction. "What can I say? We are spoiled."

She couldn't argue with him there.

About half an hour later, they were nearing their destination. It appeared that there was some sort of midnight construction, and it had traffic backed up in the still busy city.

Remy tapped his fingers in frustration. He was all nerves knowing that he would soon be taking Rogue to a very private location. He rubbed his eyes, and realized that he was still wearing the contacts. He quickly took them out, and tossed them out of the window.

He was becoming bored just sitting in the stalled vehicle. He abruptly opened the door and stepped out into the rain.

Rogue looked at him like he was crazy. "What the hell are you doing?"

He reached his hand out towards her. "Feel like walking? It's such a beautiful night."

"Are you crazy? We'll be soaked through by the time we get there!"

"Come on. Get that stick out of that cute ass of yours and live a little."

He was teasing her, and she took it as a challenge. "Fine."

They both exited the vehicle, and Bobby shouted out to them both, "Have fun kids!"

He did (what Rogue was positive) an illegal U-turn, and drove off into the distance.

The two were left standing in the pouring rain.

She lifted her clutch above her head, attempting to stop some of the droplets from pelting her face. "Well isn't this just loads of fun."

He smiled at her sarcastic comment and started to walk towards their destination. She quickly followed his steps as they began to speedily walk to their destination.

It wasn't very long before they came to an extremely nice apartment building. As they entered, the man at the door recognized Remy right away. "Mr. Lebeau! How good to see you! And you brought a guest I see." The main wiggled his eyebrows in Rogue's direction. How tactful of him.

Remy smiled at the man and introduced her. "Hello Carlos. This is Rogue, and yes she will be my guest this evening."

The man gave them both a knowing smile, and tipped his hat. "Well your suite is just like you left it."

"Thank you Carlos."

He grabbed her hand and led her to the elevator. She knew it was a simple act, but she felt a rush of excitement through her body from the contact. When they boarded the elevator, he pressed the number to the highest floor.

They both rode in a comfortable silence waiting for them to reach his place. When the doors finally opened, they were greeted by another set of doors directly in front of them. Remy pulled a key from his pocket, and placed it within the lock. When he swung open the door, he stepped aside and gestured her in. It took everything she had not to gasp at the splendor of the penthouse.

It was decorated beautifully, and had extremely large glass windows that revealed an excellent view of the city bellow.

She walked over to the window, and looked out of them like an excited little child.

He smiled, finding that he liked the fact that the place had pleased her.

"Remy, this place is gorgeous!"

He placed the precious evidence on his kitchen countertop. "Eh, it's okay I guess."

She turned to him and placed her hand on her hip. "Okay? It's more than okay."

She notice a few candles on the counter top that looked like they were burned half way down. Her look changed to mock disgust "Please don't tell me you brought me back to your hidden sex fortress or somethin' like that."

He chuckled in response. "No, you are the only woman that has ever come here. We can make it a sex fortress if you would like."

For some reason, she was relieved that no other woman had been there. She liked the fact that she was the first. And the mention of sex with him at that moment made her heart flutter.

He continued to stare at her, trying to decipher her reaction to his comment. She smiled nervously in his direction. "What?"

"Nothing. I just find it amazing that you are completely drenched, and look even better than you did before."

It was true. Her skin was glistening from the rain, and her hair was wild and clung to the base of her neck. The dress clung to her curves, and he could see the form of her pert nipples beneath the thin satin like material. She looked like she was dripping pure, unfiltered sex. She truly was a goddess, and he could feel his hardened response pressing against his pants.

She self-consciously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I probably look a mess."

He shook his head and slowly stepped towards her.

Her heart began to quicken from his change in location. As usual, he looked absolutely amazing. He was soaked, and she could see the form of his body beneath his damp clothes. She felt heat begin to rise in her cheeks at the thought of what was underneath it all. She had seen it once, and although it was an unexpected peek, she was thoroughly impressed with what she saw.

She returned her gaze to meet his, and she could see the fire blazing within his eyes. It brought a yearning forth within her that she didn't know existed until that moment.

He stopped when he stood directly in front of her. "That would be impossible."

She wasn't sure if her reaction was from all the different emotions that she had experienced that night, but she felt all of her pent up sexual frustrations finally explode. She suddenly crashed her mouth upon his without giving it a second thought.

He was momentarily caught off guard by her forwardness, but quickly recovered. He brought her close to his form, and pressed himself against her. She moaned in response, and grabbed his hair within her fingers, trying to get him as close to her as she possible could. She felt the hardened length of him on her stomach, and her body immediately began to ache in response to the contact. She loved the way that he kissed her. It was so full of need and want, and she found it enticing and delicious. She quickly decided to make a bold move, and pushed him back onto the leather couch. She lifted her dress so it allowed her to straddle his lap, and she began to thrust her hips in a grinding motion over his manhood. She was pleased with herself when he moaned against her lips, and began to kiss her at a feverish pace. She was suddenly bothered by the barrier of his clothing. She wanted to see his bare skin and view his immaculate body. She used a little too much force when she attempted to remove his shirt, and ended up ripping the material from his body completely. She took a moment to observe the beauty of him, and ran her hands along his chest, making sure to memorize every well-defined ripple with her fingers. As she was exploring him for the first time, he began to place a trail of desperate kisses down her neck, while his hands began to move up the dip of her waist, and finally making their way to her breasts. She whimpered at the contact, and he needed no further encouragement. He unzipped the side of her dress, and pulled down the fabric from her impeccable form. It took everything he had not to simply rip the fabric away from her. When he lowered it down past her stomach, the sight was even better than he had ever dreamed of. He kissed her at the base of her neck, and made his way to her full, luscious breasts. He cupped them both within his hands, and delicately rubbed one erect nipple between his fingers, while he placed his mouth upon the other. He then switched the contact, making sure he distributed equal attention to both.

She could immediately feel something build within her when she felt his tongue upon her flesh. It was a feeling like she had never experienced before, and she never wanted the feeling to end. She could feel the slick warmth between her legs, and she knew her body was screaming to be filled.

He quickly made his way back to her mouth and lifted her up, momentarily standing while she wrapped her legs around him. He immediately placed her back on the couch, only now she was the one on her back. He hastily brought his mouth back to hers, and she swiftly opened up in response. He had so much lust and carnal needs built up, that he found it extremely difficult to keep his composure. Although, she had lost most of hers already.

He decided that he had to taste her, in every possible way. He shimmied her dress past her hips, and was pleased to find that she was wearing a very sexy pair of panties. He began to place a trail of heated kisses down her stomach, driving her mad with anticipation. His hands grabbed at her hips, and he attempted to move her closer to him. He heard her breath inhale sharply as he made it to her panty line. He placed delicate kisses around the material, before he slowly removed them. He noticed that her breath had become quicker in pace, and took it as a sign of excitement. When he threw the material to the ground, he turned back and took in the sight before him.

She was the most beautiful creature that he had ever perceived. She was the true form of perfection, and he looked up at her hooded gaze one final time before he placed his mouth on the most sensitive spot on her being.

She immediately felt a foreign sensation that she had never felt before. When he had taken her bosom into his mouth, she didn't think it could get any better than that. How wrong she was.

He began to slowly move his tongue in a soft circular motion within her womanly folds, and she automatically began to arch her back in response. The feeling was nothing like she had ever experienced, and her body writhed at the intense contact. He immediately felt her movement, and smiled to himself as he continued to pleasure her. He snaked his arms around her thighs, so she had no choice but to feel the full force of what he was capable of. He could quickly feel and see the signs that her climax was near. Her moans became much louder, and she was grasping his hair within her fingers, bringing him closer to her core. Her legs began to shake, and he could see the flexing of her abdominal muscles above him.

She didn't think she could take much more of his tongue's caress. She felt the intense sensation began to build within her core, and she began to feel shivers run throughout her body. Then the feeling of euphoria abruptly hit her. She was sure she almost screamed with pleasure. The feeling was so intense in pleasure that she felt the need to back away from his mouth, but his grasp around her thighs made the task impossible. Just when she thought she couldn't take anymore, another wave of pleasure immediately took her.

He smiled to himself as she screamed from bliss. He had fantasized about this moment many times, but this was far more perfect than anything he could ever dream up. As she climaxed, he could feel the slickness of her release, and he couldn't get enough of her sweet taste. It reminded him of warm vanilla, and he knew he would develop a craving for it. As her breathing slowed, he reluctantly left her warmth and began to kiss his way back up to her mouth.

As he began to come back to her, she was in a state of post orgasmic bliss, but she was far from done. She hungrily kissed him, tasting herself on his mouth. She slowly lowered her hand to his pants, and attempted to make quick work to remove them. When she felt that she had finally undone them, she removed them and his boxers from his form. Although she couldn't wrap her hand fully around his velvety length, she still attempted to sensually caress him the best that she could. She was extremely nervous, and a tad embarrassed because she was so inexperienced. He sure didn't seem to notice though. She continued to kiss him, and he moaned against her mouth.

The moment she placed her hand on his length, he felt like he was going to explode. She knew what she was doing, and if she kept it up the night would be a short one.

He quickly maneuvered himself out of her grasp, and placed himself against her entrance, rubbing himself against her being. He needed to be in her; he needed to make her his. He felt her body become stiff beneath him.

He looked at her, concerned. He almost growled when he spoke. "_Desole. _I just need to be inside of you. Now."

She had wanted this for so long. But she was terrified and anxious. She wanted to make sure that she could please him, even though she was a virgin. "Remy, I've never done this before."

That got his attention. "Do what?"

She fidgeted beneath him. "This. Any of it. You're… my first."

She saw a series of facial expressions playing on his face.

How could he have been so rough and forward with her? He had thought for sure that she had lost her virginity to Warren. Yet she hadn't, and here he was moving one hundred miles per hour. He was the first man to ever make her climax, and the thought thrilled him. No wonder she was breathing so heavily. She was probably nervous as hell, and he didn't pick up on any of the signs. But there was a part of him that was so extremely happy that she had chosen him to be her first, that he wanted to dance. He laughed at his own stupidity.

She expected many things from him, but she definitely didn't expect him to laugh at her.

She immediately became defensive. "What's so damn funny?"

"Nothin _Chère. _You don't know how happy that makes me."

She was beyond confused. He still was on top of her, and she began to feel uncomfortable. "You're happy I'm a virgin?"

"Yes. And I'll be damned if your first time is on a couch."

He quickly picked her up bridal style, and carried her back to the bedroom. She giggled at this sudden movement, and he loved the musical tune of her laughter. He suddenly realized that he was relieved she had chosen him. Because as much as he tried to deny it, he loved this woman. He gently set her down on his king sized bed, and dimmed the lights down. Now that he knew this was her first time he would take things at a much slower pace, although he was certain it was going to kill him. He crawled back over to her, and kissed her while moving his tongue in a passionate dance with her own.

She could tell that the mood had dramatically shifted. It was great before, but now it held so much passion and need. She had wanted this for so long, and now the moment was finally here.

She was nervous as hell.

He obviously was an excellent lover, and she had no idea what she was doing. She whispered, "Remy, I just want to be good for you…while we are doing this."

He tenderly cupped her face as he laid on top of her, making sure he didn't put too much weight on her. "_Tu es parfaite."_

She believed that he had just said she was perfect, but he could have said anything in French at that moment and she would have melted in his arms.

He placed a series of gentle kisses on her neck, and she again felt the heat radiating within her. He slowly ran his hand along her form, tenderly dipping his hands on her feminine curves. Knowing that her body was again ready, he slowly placed himself at her entrance, and she tensed up with anticipation.

He whispered in her ear, "Relax _Chère._ It will make the first part…less painful."

She was extremely excited, but also extremely anxious.

"I'm nervous. You're… well endowed."

He smiled against her mouth. "And you are sexy as hell, and I'm yours."

That was all she needed to hear. He was hers, which in turn meant that she was his. She kissed him deeply, and braced herself as he began to slowly enter her.

She had to try hard to remember to breathe. This wasn't enjoyable; it was painful. Just when she thought that he couldn't go in any further, he would slowly push himself deeper within her, attempting to let her get acclimated to the new sensation and his size.

He knew that he was larger than the average male, and for the first time in his life he felt bad because of it. He whispered tender and soothing endearments in French as he finally entered her fully. It took everything in his being to move at the slow and steady pace. She felt like pure perfection, and he was certain that as soon as he entered her he would go over the edge.

The first slow thrust was painful. The second one wasn't that bad. By the fifth one, it actually began to feel good. She started to respond and moan from the feeling. He looked deep within her eyes, and she knew at that moment that she really truly loved him. She always had. He lowered his mouth to hers, and began to kiss her as he quickened his pace inside of her, although she could tell that he was holding back. She nibbled on his ear, and then whispered, "It's okay. It feels good now. You can go harder and faster if you want."

As soon as she said those words, it took everything that he had not to release himself at that exact moment in her. "I don't want to hurt you."

She arched her back in response to the feeling that was now beginning to build up within her. "You won't."

When he hesitated, she knew he needed some encouragement. She wanted to feel his full force. She thrusted her hips up as he would enter her. "Fuck me Remy."

That was all he needed to hear. He began to pound into her at a faster pace, and she began to moan loudly. The form of her perfect breasts would bounce from his force, and the sight was extremely enticing. He suddenly felt her slick walls begin to pulsate, and he watched her as she climaxed. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Her eyes became glazed and her back arched elegantly. He kissed her chest since it conveniently rose up to meet his wanting mouth. He came not much long after the sight, and he refused to move from within her.

Her breathing was labored, as well as was his. He had had many sexual encounters throughout his life, but none compared to this. And he knew why. It was because he actually loved her with everything that he had. It was funny how an emotional attachment could change things so much.

She laid there for a moment as he rested on top of her. The night was flawless, and it was all thanks to him. He was so attentive and caring to her needs and desires. She began to lazily trace circles on his back with her fingertips. "That was fantastic."

He lifted his head from her neck and smiled down at her. He needed to hear those words from her. He needed to know that he did a good job, because he wanted to live up to her expectations for her first time. It meant everything to him to please her. He kissed her forehead as he reluctantly removed himself from within her. "Yes it was."

She smiled shyly and rested her head on his chest. "So…it was okay for you too?"

He turned her head towards his and placed another passionate kiss on her mouth. "It was far more than okay. You were wonderful."

That was all the reassurance that she needed. They both remained in their nude forms, and she lifted her leg up to rest on his. Her breathing became softer, and he knew he was losing her to sleep. He softly whispered, "_Je t'aime ma cherie."_

He held his breath as he waited for her response.

A few moments passed, and she slowly lifted her face up to his. She kissed him tenderly before she replied. "I love you too Remy."

She deepened the kiss, and he needed no further encouragement. They spent the night consummating their love, and it couldn't have been any better.

**To Be Continued…**

**Awwwww There is a load more to come guys. I just couldn't fit everything into this chapter without it being overly long. So chapter 14 is in the works already! Please review! And thanks for sticking with me! I know that is sooooo annoying when people don't update fast enough!**


	14. Wakey Wakey

**A/N: Hola everybody! Thanks for all of the reviews! I appreciate all the kind words. I am 100% better and ready to roll! So, sorry I kind of jumped in heavy last chapter. Lol. I just figured that it was about time for some Romy goodness! Also, I would like to clear up a few things about my fic. Remy has never met Sinister, and that is why he didn't recognize him. My story is kind of a combination of all the X-Men universes, with a dash of AU. Sorry if there was any confusion! There is still MUCH to come! Well, on with the fic!**

**Chapter 13**

**Wakey Wakey**

Her sleep was interrupted the next morning by movement in her bed. She froze for a moment, forgetting where she was. When she turned to look at the man lying next to her, the memories of the previous night came flooding back at full force. She smiled to herself and felt heat radiate within her cheeks when she thought of all the things that they did. A small part of her felt a little embarrassed for jumping into bed with him so quickly, but the other majority was pleased at pie. After all, he knew her better than anybody.

They had made love numerous times throughout the night, and it was far better than anything she could have ever imagined. But the sex wasn't the part that had her giddy with delight. It was the fact that he had told her he loved her, and she in return told him. She always had known that she loved him, and it felt great now that she knew that he reciprocated those feelings. She was sure that she had misheard him the previous night when he told her. It wasn't exactly in his character to discuss his feelings. But he opened up to her, and she with him. Things were actually starting to look up for her.

Her thoughts floated to what Emma informed her of previously, how when one started they couldn't stop. She had definitely been right.

Shit. Emma.

She glanced around the room trying to find a clock for the time. They had quite a bit of information that they needed to tell the team. She sat up preparing to dress herself, but was suddenly interrupted when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back within the mess of covers.

She smiled to herself as he pulled her close to his body. His voice was still husky with sleep. "Not yet _Chère."_

"Remy, you know that we have to get back soon to tell the others."

He started placing a series of delicate kisses down her neck. She quickly felt the familiar ache of need begin to course through her veins. She felt his manhood stir and firmly press against her still bare bottom.

She moved her hand behind her, teasing his length. He sighed within her neck, and she quickly rolled over to face him. "Okay Casanova, we will have more than enough time to do this later. Right now we have to go back and tell the others about everything."

The look on his face was priceless. She had never seen a grown man pout until now. "Yes, but we have more than enough time do this _now."_

She quickly wiggled from his firm grasp, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist him much longer. "As much as I want to, we have important information that has to be relayed. What time is it anyway?"

She heard him shift his movement to look at the clock she hadn't been able to locate earlier. She knew it was due to his mutation; he could see rather well in the dark. "It's a little after twelve."

She almost shrieked. Damn his curtains! They blocked out almost all of the sunlight. "We slept until noon? Oh my gosh, they are gonna be so pissed!"

She leaned down and attempted to put her dress back on. She was kicking herself in the ass for not remembering to bring a change of clothes. Now when she entered the mansion, they would definitely know that she was doing the walk of shame. But it was worth it. Every. Single. Minute.

She became frustrated when she heard him leisurely making his way to the bathroom. She was even more furious when she heard him turn the shower taps on. She quickly marched in. When she made it to the bathroom, she had forgotten that they had both slept in the nude. She would never get tired of seeing his form. Never. "What are you doing? We have to go!"

He gave her his signature cocky grin as he pulled the shower curtain aside. "What's wrong? You don't want them to know that their good little Rogue turned into a sex vixen last night?"

She quickly became flustered. "No. It's not that, it's that we…we really should…"

She was trying to sound assertive, but she found it impossible to do so while he was slowly removing last night's dress from her form.

"Relax _Chère._What difference does another hour make?"

She gave him a teasing look. "Another hour?"

He almost growled in response as he lifted her by her waist and placed her on himself. "Or longer if you like."

He placed his mouth on hers, and both retreated into the hot water. It was freezing cold by the time they were finished.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She loved the feeling of flight. She knew she should hate it. After all, the power was now within her because she had killed someone. But she couldn't help it. She absolutely loved everything about it. The way the air would float around her body made her feel amazing. She also loved the speed of it. That is why she had suggested that they fly instead of drive. She looked down to check on her passenger.

She almost laughed uncontrollably when she saw that he had his eyes closed. She spoke with a raised voice so he could hear her over the wind gliding past their bodies. "You big baby! Open your eyes! It's beautiful out here today!"

It was, in fact, a very beautiful day. Spring was coming to an end and summer was quickly approaching. But he couldn't concentrate on that right now. There was something very unnerving about being miles up in the sky, and the only thing keeping you from plummeting to the ground is a woman's grasp underneath your armpits. He wasn't afraid of flying…but this sensation was way different than being in a plane. Airplanes at least had walls. "I'm good."

She smiled widely at his brash answer. "The great Gambit is actually afraid of something? What is the world coming to?"

Any other time he would love to tease and play little games with her, but not now. He was just doing his best not to throw up. She would never let it go if he did.

As if she sensed his thoughts, she brought her mouth closer to his ear. "You can open your eyes now Sugar. We're here."

When they landed on the mansion's grassy grounds, he quickly got down on his hands and knees and kissed it.

She giggled at his actions. "Come on, its not that bad."

He looked at her in disbelief. "Are you crazy, woman? I just hope you don't drive the way you fly! You almost hit an airplane! Twice!"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm just a little out of practice, that's all."

He still continued to stare at her. She smiled warmly at him and looped her arm through his. "It's your own fault. We could have taken a cab if you weren't so worried about taking a shower."

He tilted his head, and was struck with a sudden realization. "You did all that to get even with me?"

She smiled deviously in his direction. "Well, I did tell you that we had to go."

He returned the smile and brought her closer to him. "Touché. But I don't recall you complaining."

She shimmied out his grasp and headed towards the mansion doors. As she walked she turned back to him, a sly smile playing on her face. "I choose my battles wisely."

God he loved that woman.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later they were both in the war room debriefing the team. The others listened intently as they discussed what they had found out. They handed Emma the documentation that they had discovered, and she quickly glanced over the information. Scott tried to scoot over in her direction to glance over the documents as well, but quickly received somewhat of a death glare from his fiancé. He quickly ceased his movement and returned to his original spot by Jean.

Rogue wasn't the only one that witnessed the little interaction. Remy glanced her way and raised his eyebrows. She quickly turned away from his questioning look. She promised Emma that she wouldn't say anything about the pregnancy, and Remy was excellent a finding things out. The odds definitely were not in her favor. All he had to do was touch her and she would be spilling out information. She thought of last night's encounters with him, and smiled to herself.

She kicked herself for letting her thoughts drift elsewhere; because she knew when it came to Remy she was a mental broadcaster. Emma abruptly looked up and smirked.

Rogue knew she was found out, and quickly cleared her throat so Emma would quit looking at her the way she currently was. It was as if the look on her face was saying, "You are going to tell me absolutely everything as soon as we get out of here."

Rogue decided right now would be a good time to continue with the debriefing. "So as soon as we found the documents, we tried to leave as soon as possible, but we were caught on the way out. We ran into somebody, the last person that I ever expected to see."

She turned to Emma, because she knew she would have the biggest reaction out of them all. "It was Shaw."

Emma quickly looked up from the documentation; a look of fear quickly passing over her normally composed features. "What do you mean 'It was Shaw'?"

Rogue could tell that Emma was going to lose her cool at any moment. "It was him Emma, only he had no idea who he was. But there was also somebody else with him. It was Sinister."

At this statement, every body started speaking at once. She had to wait a few moments before she could even distinguish one question from another. Kitty just so happened to be closest to her, so she heard her question first. "So the crazy cloning guy is at Mr. Stuart's mansion? Why would he even allow that?

"He is funding them, but he also offers them protection. That's really all that it says in those papers."

Emma stood up. "You should have brought them back Rogue! If they have any indication that we have penetrated Trask enterprises, they will pull out and disappear!"

Rogue knew that Emma was really hormonal, but she found it hard to just sit there and get screamed at like she was a child. After all, Emma didn't exactly have any room to talk. She was _supposed_ to be there as well, but had gotten a few of her priorities discombobulated.

She was going to speak up to defend herself, but found that Remy had beaten her to it. "If we would have even tried any action like that, we would have been killed on sight. You know that as well as we do. You yourself said that security would be fully demonstrated, and it was."

Emma still continued on her rant. "You should have done everything in your power to at least get Shaw back! Once he gains his memory he will come find us! We will all be screwed!"

Logan spoke up. "The Cajun just told you why they didn't. Hopefully he has a another plan?" He looked in Gambit's direction hoping that he did have some other plan in motion. It seemed like an awful lot to go through to come back empty handed.

"Why, yes _Monsieur _Claws, as a matter of fact I do. I was invited to come to a meeting in four months time. It's our best bet to get in unnoticed."

Logan completely understood the logic. It was a waiting game that was completely necessary. The critical part was being patient, and their new resident psychic gave no indication that she was going to comply.

"Four months? Are you both out of your fucking minds?! They will have moved the whole damn operation by that time!"

Remy was becoming impatient with the hysterical blonde woman in front of him. "They won't move. It's too risky, and Stuart has too much invested in them both to just let them walk freely."

Emma laughed sarcastically at his response. "Oh really? And your basing your information on your low life little thieving heists? You're pathetic!"

Rogue considered Emma a friend. A good one for that matter. She also knew that most of Emma's craziness was due to her being pregnant. But right now none of that mattered. All she could see was red. Both her and Remy had risked their lives for that mission, and Emma was being awfully disrespectful "You better shut your mouth Emma, or I will shut it for you!"

Emma sneered in her direction. She would use the new information that Rogue was projecting earlier as ammunition. She knew it was wrong, but she felt like everyone was ganging up on her when she was clearly in the right. "What, you fuck him one time and all of the sudden he comes before me? You know you're just going to be another notch on his bedpost!"

Rogue immediately reddened. She would never expect Emma to out her in front of everyone. She was furious. And a small part in the back of her mind had wondered the same thing. She wanted to fly over and punch her straight in her face.

Remy didn't take the slander of his name lightly. If Emma would have just disrespected him, he could brush it off. But he would be damned if she thought he would just stand by and watch while she made Rogue feel like some random cheap whore. He loved the woman! And besides, wasn't Emma supposedly her friend? He knew the signs of a bitter woman, and he would use that to his advantage. "You're just upset because no man wants to keep you, _non?_"

Remy had no idea how close to home he actually hit. Emma stood, enraged at the fact that she felt like she was going to cry.

Cyclops finally spoke up. "Emma that's enough—"

She continued to yell. "There are plenty of men that want me! Look at me for Christ's sake!" She turned towards Scott before she continued. "Any man in his right mind would be crazy to let me go!"

Scott was becoming concerned. "Emma, you really should calm down!"

Emma finally broke down and began to sob. "What's so wrong with me?! I would give you what you deserve!"

The realization hit everyone at once that the subject matter had completely changed.

Remy realized what was going on immediately. Emma was in love with one-eye.

Forgetting all that had previously transpired, Rogue sighed and went over to her friend.

Emma quickly shrugged her off and continued. "I can't stand it! I can't stand it seeing you put on that false happiness around her! You and I both know how you feel!" She was to the point of almost screaming.

Scott had only one main concern in mind. "Emma calm down! Stress is bad for the baby!"

The room immediately became still.

Rogue almost felt like she would suffocate from all the tension that was floating around.

Jean calmly stood, and walked out of the room.

The others shifted awkwardly.

Emma had a look of pure shock on her face. "Oh that's just great Scott! Way to break the news to everybody!"

She turned to address the others and threw her hands up in the air. "You hear that everyone? I am having Scott Summers baby!"

She then sharply turned to face him with tears still fresh on her cheeks. "I wish it was with anybody but you!"

She quickly exited the room. Nobody moved. It was as if they couldn't. Scott ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "You all would have found out sooner or later. I am sorry for the way that it happened. You are all dismissed." He ran out of the room, and Rogue was curious to find out whom he went to talk to first. The mother of his unborn child? Or his fiancé? The whole situation was more than messed up.

Kitty was the first to speak up. "Wow. I did NOT see that coming."

Bobby piped in. "Dude, Summers is such a player! Two hot chicks at once? Man, you know he is in so much shit with Jean! I wonder if she knew?"

Rogue felt the need to put the stop to the gossip. "She knew. And they already have things figured out. It's their business, so we should just let it drop."

Everyone nodded their heads that they understood, but she knew that this was going to be the most talked about scandal in the mansion. This was not how she was planning for the day to turn out.

She walked out, and felt an arm wrap around her waist. She looked up and met red orbs. "You knew, didn't you?"

She sighed in response. "Yes. That's the reason she didn't go on the mission."

He nodded his head in understanding.

When they reached her room, she paused awkwardly, not knowing what she should do. She had never been in a serious relationship before, and didn't know what her next move should be. Should she invite him in and tear his clothes off? Or should she give him a hug and let him know that she would see him later? Plus, even though she knew Emma had not meant it, there was still a seed planted in her head. What if Remy had used her, and just told her everything that she wanted to hear to get into her pants?

As if he had heard her thoughts, he quickly brought her close to him and held her in his embrace. "I meant what I said last night."

That was all the reassurance that she needed. She knew he was referring to him telling her that he loved her.

She sighed contently in his shirt. "I did too. You think we did the right thing? By leaving Shaw there?"

"Yes. Trust me, I know these types. A big investor isn't going to let his investment go unattended. Now it is just our job to find out why he is funding mutants, and why they need protection. I have a feeling it is a lot bigger than we think it is."

She huffed at this information. She didn't say anything previously, but she knew that he was right. She knew something big was going to happen, and it was their job to figure things out.

She released her embrace, and stood on her toes to kiss him. As they met, he snatched her back up and brought her close to him. She smiled against his lips, and reluctantly pushed off of him.

"I don't think I can take much more today. I'm a little…sore."

He gave her a look of pure lust and cupped her face in his hand. "Remy will be very, very gentle."

She almost felt herself go weak in the knees. His voice was pure warm liquid that cascaded about her body, making her want to do things to him that would make most people blush.

"As good as that sounds, I have to check on Emma."

"Wow. That's a mood killer."

She smiled warmly at him. "You know she didn't mean the things that she said. She is just hormonal."

"It is going to be weird having a pregnant member on the team."

Rogue almost laughed at the picture that popped in her head. She could envision Emma nine months pregnant still wearing her little white uniform that exposed her new swollen belly.

"It's different, but it will be kind of neat, ya know?"

Remy gave her a devilish grin. "You want kids?"

Once again, she felt herself blush in front of him. He had a way of making her do that. "Not now, but yeah. Someday."

He continued to grin down at her. "Want to get started now?"

She playfully slapped his chest and turned to make her way to Emma's Room. "Ha Ha. I'll be back in a little bit."

As he watched her leave, he realized something. Every time a woman in his past had even mentioned the idea of him fathering children, he would bolt. Immediately. But when she said it, he didn't feel that way at all. He actually felt…excited. He wanted to slap himself in the face. _Get yourself together, Lebeau. If you move any faster, you're gonna scare her off._

He quickly made his way to his own room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Rogue looked everywhere in the mansion for Emma, but couldn't seem to find her anywhere. She looked in her room, the kitchen, and the rec room. She was nowhere to be found. She made her way down to the med bay to see if she could find her there.

She entered through the automatic doors, and was disappointed when she didn't find her in the small room. She decided to check on "Christian" to see how things were. Even though they were not sure if the comatose body was Emma's real brother or not, they did take up calling him by his name. It gave the body a sense of identity, and didn't make things more uncomfortable than they had to be. She checked his vitals on the machine, observing that there had not been any change.

She didn't think that she would be able to put on a brave face like Emma did everyday. Not with everything that was going on it her life. In fact, most people would break down if they were going through half of the things that Emma was dealing with. She was pregnant with an engaged man's baby, her "brother" was in a coma, someone burned her school down, and now she was worried about Shaw being able to find them. It was a lot to deal with.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt for yelling at her. She should have been more understanding.

She brushed Christian's hair back away from his face. She felt like she had a connection with him, even if it was only through Emma. She could never begin to describe the anguish that Emma felt when she saw his body (or a clones) hanging from that chandelier.

Her moment was interrupted when she heard a distant yell. She rolled her eyes and recognized the voice immediately. It was Kara's.

She had almost completely forgotten that the woman was still in their custody.

She walked towards the obnoxious voice. She could hear Kitty as well. "It isn't that bad!"

Kara responded. "I knew it! You are trying to poison me! Because this shit is not even edible!"

Rogue had to stifle a laugh. She forgot that last night was Kitty's night to cook. She must have brought Kara the leftovers.

She made her way to their isolation units, and took in the comical sight before her. Kitty was trying to shove the food through the slot, while Kara was blocking the entrance.

The units had no bars, but clear unbreakable glass. There was also an inhibitor device installed so the captive couldn't use their powers. It was an ingenious device designed by Forge, before he and Storm left to start their own lives. She missed them both immensely.

At the sight of her, Kara straightened up and became silent. Kitty noticed her actions, and turned around. She had a look of relief on her face when she saw that it was Rogue.

"Oh thank God. She won't eat! I told her there is no use starving herself."

Kara immediately spoke up. "Kitty, nobody can eat the shit that you cook! It's not just me!"

Rogue found it odd that Kara was speaking to Kitty as if nothing had happened. She moved in a little closer. "Kitty, I think there is some left over chinese in the fridge. Maybe you should just give her that."

Kitty pointed the plastic fork in Kara's direction. "This one time. Next time you will eat what I cook! Why doesn't anybody like tofu?" And with that the petite woman was phasing through the wall headed to the kitchen. The other two women stood in silence separated by glass. Kara spoke first. "What? Did you come down here to lecture me on how wrong and crazy I acted? If you did, save your breath. I have already heard it from everyone else."

"No. Actually I forgot all about you until I heard you yelling. You really should work on your manners. I mean it's bad enough you tried to kill me, now you're dissing on Kitty's cooking? Tisk Tisk."

Kara started to pace the floor. "Would you just leave?"

"Did you really think that killing me would help you win back Remy?"

Kara seemed to snap at the mention of Gambit's name. "We were fine until your whore ass came back!"

Kara suddenly stopped speaking and tilted her head in Rogue's direction. "You've fucked him, haven't you?"

"That's none of your damn business!"

"You know he is just using you. He doesn't care about you! Your powerful, and he is just going to take advantage of that! Nothing ever comes without a price with him."

She knew that she shouldn't even entertain the crazed woman. "No Kara, he used you. And for that I'm sorry, but—"

"Spare me!" Kara interrupted her. "What? When he fucked you did he tell you he loved you? Wait let me guess; he said it in French didn't he? Same old tricks, different pathetic bitch."

Rogue felt herself redden with anger.

Kara laughed sardonically. "Oh my Gosh, he did, didn't he? Well let me tell you that it's all a ploy, it always is."

Rogue snapped. She made an attempt to be civil, and Kara just wasn't having it. "I'm pathetic? You are a psychopath! I bet you sit in here and have full blown conversations with yourself, ya nut case! I bet you dream about him busting in here and freeing you, and you both ride off into the sunset. It is time for a reality check. Not one of us gives a shit about you. As a matter of fact, I will forget that you ever existed after today. And take a shower…I can smell you from here!"

She turned around and marched off. Kara began to scream in rage.

It was a small victory. All she could think about is what Kara had said to her about Remy using the exact same moves on her. Rogue was mad at herself for even allowing Kara to feel like she had any sort of power over her when it came to her relationship.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kitty came phasing through the wall. "What the hell is her problem?"

Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "I guess she is just really hungry." She continued past Kitty to continue her search for Emma.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She finally found Emma on the mansion's lake dock. Emma had her high heeled shoes placed next to her, and had her feet submerged in the water.

Emma already knew that she was there. "What?"

Rogue plopped herself next to the blonde haired woman. She also took her shoes off, and placed her feet in the water. She loved this lake. It was rather large, and had a nice sandy beach on one side. She used to shudder at the idea of sun bathing around so much exposed skin, but this summer she was looking forward to it. She turned her attention back to Emma.

"You know you were wrong in there."

"For what? For saying what you failed to do?"

Rogue found that after the little incident with Kara, her patience was now wearing thin. "And what exactly did I fail to do Emma?"

The blue-eyed woman turned and looked at her like she was crazy. "You failed to protect the team! My unborn child! You know that he is going to get his memory back, and he won't only come after you, he is going to come after me and my baby as well!"

Emma unconsciously brought her hands to her still flat stomach.

Rogue realized that Emma wasn't concerned with her own welfare; she was concerned for her baby's.

Rogue sighed and tilted her head back, allowing the sun's rays to shine on her face. "Emma, Remy knows what he is talking about, and I trust him. You should too."

Emma mindlessly began to kick at the water's surface. "I just never thought in a million years that I would be in this predicament. I just can't stand the fact that Shaw has no idea who he is, and he still has power over me. How am I suppose to be a good mother, Rogue? How am I supposed to raise a child in a world that hates us? And you know the baby will be one too. Will it have to deal with the harsh cruelties that I did?"

"Emma, that is why we are all at Xavier's, isn't it? Change doesn't happen over night. We can only guide people in the right direction; they have to figure the rest out themselves."

Emma remained silent, so Rogue decided now would be a good time to approach a more delicate topic. "So I guess the big secret is out now, huh?"

Emma lay back on the dock. "How can I be in love with a man that doesn't want me?"

Rogue shrugged her shoulders. "You're the mother of his child, of course he cares. But in his defense, he has a fiancé that thinks the world of him. I'm sure she loves him too."

Emma let out a defeated sigh. "You don't know him like I do."

Rogue couldn't help but laugh. "It's a good thing I don't, otherwise he would have to make us all sister wives."

Emma laughed at the thought. "Oh gosh, and Jean would be wife number one, and me and you would argue who was second best. She would make us do all of the gross chores, like laundry and cleaning the toilets."

Both women laughed at the idea. Emma sat up and became serious again. "You are such a good friend to me. I'm sorry that I treated you the way that I did earlier. By the way, how did the _mission_ with Gambit go?"

Rogue immediately reddened. "Lets just say it went really, _really_ good."

Emma smirked and lifted herself up. "I told you it was."

Rogue couldn't wipe the silly grin off of her face. "So you did."

As both of them began to walk back towards the mansion, they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine leaving the property. Rogue flew up over the tree line to see who was leaving. She was disappointed to see that it was Remy. He hadn't mentioned anything to her about leaving. She thought about flying and catching up to him, but that would make her seem a bit frantic and obsessive. She reluctantly lowered herself back down to the ground.

Emma could see the concern etched on her face. "Who was it?"

"It was Remy."

Emma brushed it off as if it were nothing. "He has always been the drifter type. He probably is just going to the bars or something. You can't expect him to change his bad habits overnight."

Rogue didn't know what to think. She knew they were in a fresh relationship, but it was common courtesy to let your significant other know where you were going. She realized that she was probably over reacting, and went back inside with Emma.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Before she went to bed, she attempted to call him. The line rung once, and then went straight to voicemail. She decided not to leave one and quickly hung up. He had turned his phone off.

Interesting.

She changed into a pair of short softie shorts and a tank top. She ran a brush through her hair, and pulled it up in a messy fashion on top of her head. As she laid her head down, she couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling that was in the pit of her stomach. Why hadn't he told her he was leaving? And why was his phone off? The last person she wanted to act like was crazy Kara, so she quickly pushed the thoughts out of her head. She was asleep within minutes.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She awoke in the middle of the night due to hunger pains. She loved some things about Ms. Marvel's mutation, but her metabolism was now through the roof because of it. She realized that she hadn't really eaten much for dinner. She glanced at the clock, and groaned when she found out it was only 2:00 AM. She left the comfort of her bed to make her way down to the kitchen. She couldn't resist the temptation to knock on Remy's door to make sure that he made it home all right, although deep down inside she knew that he wasn't going to be there. She glanced at his door one final time before heading down to the kitchen area.

When she walked through the doors, she wasn't surprised to find it completely dark and empty. She flicked on the lights, and made her way over to the fridge. She opened it up, and began to graze through the contents, trying to figure out what was worth consuming. A foul smell hit her nose, and she scrunched it up in disgust. She pulled forth Logan's mutation so she could find out what was causing the odor and get rid of it. She found the culprit, which was some week old food that Bobby had tossed in the back, and completely forgot about. She always thought it was gross that he didn't wrap his food up when he would put it in the refrigerator. She quickly disposed of it, and went to the sink to wash her hands. Due to Wolverines senses, she had done the mansion a favor by throwing the crap away. Also due to his senses, she heard a noise downstairs below her.

She held still so she could hear better, and heard the noise again. It was probably Kara bouncing around in her containment unit. She headed out of the kitchen doors to go tell the crazy woman to shut it before she woke everyone up. She went down to the mansion's bottom level, making her way past the med bay and heading in Kara's direction. Only she heard the noise again and realized it wasn't coming from the containment units. She turned towards the med bay and walked through the automatic doors.

Before her brain could even comprehend what was happening, she felt an arm from behind her wrap tightly around her throat. She tried to use her powers to get out of the person's firm grasp, but found that she couldn't. Panic began to seep in when she realized she couldn't use any of the mutations that she had absorbed. She became even more panicked when her vision became blurry from the lack of oxygen. Her survival instincts began to kick in. She thrashed wildly within the person's arms, trying to do anything to change her position. She kicked frantically behind her, and heard a masculine grunt. As soon as she realized the culprit was male, she knew she had the advantage because of the height difference. She threw her elbow back, and hit him in the most sensitive spot on a man. His grasp loosened slightly, but not enough. Desperation set in and she began scratching at his arm, but felt herself becoming weaker by the minute. The male voice growled in her ear.

"What have you done with my sister?"

Well that certainly cleared things up.

It appeared that Christian was awake.

**To be continued…**

**Duh Duh DUUUUUUUUUUH. Lol. Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I have finals coming up (I take courses year round), but I will try to have the next chapter up in the next week or so. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	15. Your What?

**Hello once again! I can't believe that I have never mentioned this before, but better late then never, right?**

**So I grew up watching the 90's animated series of the X-Men, and I love it. Well, there is a treasure of HILARIOUS videos on YouTube.**

**This guy does redubs (parodies) of clips from different X-Men episodes. They last about 1-2 minutes, and there are 69 of them! I promise you, you will laugh so hard! He does the voices of all the characters, and they each have their own little personas. He is so good, that his words actually line up with the character's mouths. There are plenty with Rogue and Gambit, but many with other characters as well. There is some adult language, but I figure everyone reading my fic should be an adult! Please check them out, and get back with me to let me know what you think. I quote some of his stuff almost daily.**

**His name on YouTube is letsburnholes (It's all one word). When you find his page, go to his playlist and click on "The X-Men Files". Or you can just look up "The X-Men files". Just make sure you watch them in order. You just have to watch them all. They just get better and better as you progress! I'm addicted; I just watch them over and over again!**

**Okay, now back to the fic. Lol. Thanks for the reviews, keep em' coming. I noticed that there have been some mixed reactions and feelings about Emma being impregnated by Scott. Some of you feel sorry for Emma, while some of you feel more compassion for Jean.**

**So tell me, are you finding yourself sided more with Emma? Or Jean?**

**Trust me, there is a purpose to this survey. Lol.**

**Well, on with the fic! (And make sure you watch those vids!)**

**Chapter 15**

**Your What?**

She could feel herself beginning to lose consciousness, but she would be damned if she went down without a fight. She knew that he had no idea what was going on, but that wouldn't stop her from doing as much damage as she possibly could.

She was quickly running out of options. She decided to make as much noise as possible, knowing that someone would have to hear it and would come investigate.

While his arm was still wrapped tightly around her throat, she threw herself back as hard as she possibly could, making sure to slam his body against the wall. In the process, he knocked over the medical equipment, causing a lot of commotion. She only prayed that somebody would get there in time.

She repeated her movements, and threw herself back once more, only this time he seemed more prepared for her intentions. He had his feet planted firmly on the floor, and she barely moved him at all. The sides of her vision began to darken, and she could feel herself becoming limp.

She never would have thought her life would end like this. She had survived so many hardships and battles that were ten times more severe than this. Is this how normal people felt? The people without mutations? Just plain helpless?

She suddenly felt the grip loosen up on her neck. He didn't let go, but it provided her just enough room to get what she needed. Oxygen.

Suddenly, he threw her across the room, and went to fight with his new attacker.

Rogue quickly inhaled. The airflow felt sweet and savory, and she turned to look at her rescuer. She had a feeling that it would be Remy coming to her aid, but was stunned to find that it was Jean. She had climbed behind him and had her own arm now wrapped around his neck. She was yelling in his ear, "Calm down! We are not going to hurt you!"

Scott rushed in mere moments later, aiming at the other man with his visor. He seemed shocked when he couldn't use his power. To his credit though, he didn't even delay in his process of bringing the other man down. Jean was slammed up against a wall, and quickly fell to the ground.

Scott yelled in rage, and attempted to subdue the other man.

Jean was quickly back on her feet, and began rummaging through the medication cabinet that was located in that specific med bay room. She ran over to Christian, and shot him up with some fluid in his neck.

The man quickly stopped his fighting, and slouched back down on the hospital cot.

Rogue still lay on the floor, with her hand rubbing her throat. Jean quickly ran over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? We tried to get here as soon as we heard the noise of a struggle."

Rogue looked up appreciatively. "I'm fine. Just…thank you."

Emma chose that moment to make an appearance. She was still dressed in her bedclothes, which meant that she was wearing a silk teddy that left little to the imagination. "What the hell is going on down here—"

She stopped abruptly when she saw the blonde man slouched over on the cot. "CHRISTIAN!"

She ran over and wrapped her arms around him, bringing him close to her. She immediately noticed his lack of movement, and turned to glare at Jean. "What the hell have you done to him?!"

Jean was about to answer, but Rogue cut her off. "She had to drug him... He attacked me, and I would have been dead if it wasn't for Jean and Scott showing up when they did."

Jean continued, "It's just a mild sedative. Its effects won't last that long."

Emma couldn't wait that long. She had been waiting all this time to speak with him, to find out what had happened. She attempted to enter his mind to speak with him telepathically, but found that she couldn't. "Why aren't my powers working?"

Rogue slowly stood up, supported by Jean. She knew that Emma was overwhelmed with the realization that her brother was now awake, but she could at l east asked if she was okay. After all, it was her brother that had caused the damage in the first place. "I was about to ask you the same thing. It seems that none of us can use our mutations. I thought you said he wasn't a mutant?"

Emma looked at her, confused. "He's not."

"Well I think otherwise. It seems like he can inhibit mutations."

A look of sadness passed over Emma's face. She slowly released her embrace from Christian. "Then this isn't my brother."

Rogue brought her hand back up to her neck. "Like hell he isn't! The only reason he attacked in the first place is because he was looking for you!"

Emma couldn't contain her emotions. She quickly leaned over to Christian, and laid him back down on the cot. She spoke to him, although she knew that he probably had no idea what was going on at the moment. "I knew it was you—" She took a moment to brush back a wisp of blonde hair from his forehead. "I always knew it was really you."

She leaned over him and began to cry upon his chest. Rogue decided that this moment should only be theirs, and she walked out of the doors, quickly followed by Jean and Scott.

Scott was fussing over his fiancé. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

He tenderly brought her chin up to examine her face.

Jean gave a slight smile "I'm fine. Besides, I've been hurt worse than this."

Scott guiltily looked away. Jean turned his face back towards her own with her hand. "But I'll get better over time." Scott leaned in and placed a loving kiss on her mouth.

Rogue knew that she should turn away from their private moment, but she found that she couldn't. She realized that she had done everything to comfort Emma, but never even thought about talking to Jean about it. She knew it wasn't her place to address it before because Emma had asked her not to bring it up, but now everything was out in the open. She should have at least made sure that Jean was okay.

She also felt slightly abandoned. She knew she should never depend on a man to protect her. She was stronger than almost all of them combined, but at that moment she was weak and feeble. Remy should have been there. Where the hell was he?

Jean interrupted her thoughts. "Rogue, are you sure you're okay? Your neck is starting to bruise."

Rogue self-consciously brought her hand back up to her throat. "Oh, I forgot. I guess since he is sedated I can heal myself." She pulled up Logan's mutation, and the bruising vanished within seconds.

Jean was still observing her with a skeptical look on her face.

Rogue smirked at her. "I'm fine."

Jean turned towards her fiancé. "Go to bed. I'll be up in a little bit." Scott looked between them both, and nodded his head before leaving.

Jean turned to head towards the kitchen. "I think some nice cold ice cream won't do any harm on your throat."

Rogue knew that Jean probably just wanted to talk, but she would play along. "It depends what flavor."

Jean smiled. "I know we have chocolate."

"How come you always bribe me with chocolate food, and it always works?"

Jean laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "What woman doesn't love chocolate?"

"Good point."

Moments later, Rogue found herself at the kitchen table with Jean, indulging in a bowl of ice cream. Jean had made herself some as well.

Jean spoke first. "I knew you were up. I could sense your intentions and I knew you were headed down to the kitchen."

Rogue gave a half smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

Jean shrugged. "I wasn't asleep. I haven't been able to sleep well lately."

Rogue shifted in her seat. "I don't blame you. Are you okay?"

Jean laughed almost sarcastically. "As okay as I can be, I suppose. What exactly is a woman in my shoes supposed to do in a predicament like this?"

Rogue felt the need to comfort her. "He does love you. Anyone can see that. I saw it with my own eyes downstairs."

"I know he does. But than again, how can he tell me he loves me and then go sleep with another woman?"

Rogue didn't know how to respond to that. She had wondered the same thing herself.

Jean continued. "I'm sorry to talk to you about this. I know how close you are with Emma."

Rogue quickly looked up at her. "Emma and I are friends, but I consider you to be one as well. I was so pissed at her when I found out that she and Scott did that to you. But than again, I can understand why she was upset too. I donno, the situation is all wrong."

Jean began to stir her now melted ice cream. "I was mad, but deep down I knew. It's my own fault."

Rogue didn't understand. "No its not. Why would you even think that?"

Jean looked around, a tint of pink rising to her cheeks. She then lowered her voice to speak, even though there was nobody awake at this hour. "Because I have been so caught up with doctoring and my studies, I haven't really given him the _time_ that he deserves. What did I expect?"

"You gave him plenty of time! I always see you two together—"

Jean quickly interrupted her. "No, I mean _romantically._"

Rogue suddenly realized what she was referring to. "That still doesn't give him the right to sleep with someone else."

"I know, but I should have done more on my part. He is my fiancé, I should have been more attentive."

"Jean—"

"I know there is a part of him that loves her. I can sense it."

Rogue couldn't imagine being with a man while he had feelings for somebody else.

"He still looks at her with longing."

She couldn't help but feel sorry for the red head sitting across from her. She had always been Miss Perfect, and Rogue knew that this whole messed up situation was eating her alive. "I know it's not my place to tell you this, but I don't think I have much of a choice. Scott told Emma that things were over between them, and that he loves you and he always has."

Jean smiled up at her. She sniffed, attempting to hold back her tears. "Thank you for telling me that."

"Well, it's the truth."

Rogue looked at the clock, and groaned when she saw that it now read 3:55 AM. She got up from her seat and took her dish over to the sink. "I guess I should go see how Emma and Christian are doing."

Jean stood up as well. "He should be feeling fine now, I can come down with you and—"

Rogue didn't let her finish. "No. You need some rest. I can handle it."

Jean smiled at her. "Thank you."

Rogue rinsed out her dish, and could feel Jean hesitating in the doorway.

"Umm, Rogue, I know that you and Gambit have gotten close. I also noticed that he isn't here. Is everything okay?"

Rogue shrugged. She really had no idea what was going on. "I guess so. Don't you worry about me, you get to bed now."

"Well if you need to talk, you know where to find me." She turned and exited out of the kitchen.

Rogue appreciated the gesture, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk and cry about Remy. She was stronger than that, wasn't she?

She quickly shook herself and headed down towards the med bay.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As she entered through the automatic doors, she found that Christian was more alert, and he and Emma were deep in conversation. When Christian saw her come in, he addressed her immediately.

"I am so sorry, I thought you were one of _them_."

She sat down in one of the chairs in the room. "One of who?"

The man looked at Emma before he continued. "One of the men working for Shaw or Sinister. Most of them are mutant haters, and will do anything for a cheap thrill to hurt one."

Emma took a deep breath in and closed her eyes. Rogue could tell that she was trying not to cry. She turned back towards Rogue. "He doesn't remember too much detail, just that they abducted him, experimented on him, tortured him—" she had to take another deep breath before she could continue. "That bastard Shaw released him to Sinister as soon as he could. I had no idea…if I knew he would have been dead a long time ago."

Christian feebly took Emma's hand. Rogue almost huffed at his weakness. She knew that he was probably getting re-accustomed to using his limbs, but he sure as hell didn't seem to have a problem when he was trying to kill her earlier. It seemed that she was getting rather used to being attacked by residents of the mansion.

A sudden thought occurred to her. "Christian, are you a mutant?"

He smiled weakly at her. "I guess I am now. That's what they were working on before they put me under. They were working on activating recessive mutant genes. They knew I would have to have it because my sister is a mutant. When they found out what my mutation was, they had a field day. It appeared that I was a big piece to their missing puzzle. I think that they knew what it was all along."

"Why would they do that?"

Christian's look turned very serious quickly. "I don't know exactly why, but I know this much. They plan on bringing it forth in all mutants or carriers. They said something about making them register, but I don't know the reason behind it. Shaw is a mutant, and so is Sinister. I don't know why they would want that."

Emma tried to comfort him. "I promise that we are going to find out. Rogue here, as well as another teammate, have gotten in at Trask enterprises. They are going undercover in about four months time."

Rogue had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Emma was just screaming about the idea earlier, and now she was supporting it. Hormones.

Christian tilted his head, looking at them both suspiciously. "Why were you keeping a captive?"

Both women looked at each other. Emma spoke first. "What do you mean?"

"The woman that was in that cell…"

Emma brought her hands up to her mouth. "Oh Christian, please tell me you didn't…"

Rogue immediately lifted herself from her chair and took off in the direction towards Kara's containment cell. Her fears were confirmed when she saw that the glass door was now open, and was completely empty. She quickly marched back into the room.

"She's gone."

Emma turned towards her brother. "That was a mentally unstable person that you released. We were keeping her here for her own protection."

Rogue completed the story. "Yeah, that and the little fact that she tried to kill me."

Christian's eyes quickly darted over in her direction. "I never would have let her out if I knew. She told me that you were mutant hunters, and that you planned on killing us both."

Rogue rubbed her fingers along her temples. She was developing a headache. "How did you even know how to open the containment unit?"

"She told me how to."

Rogue sighed. "Of course she did."

Emma quickly stood. "We can go search for her."

Rogue shook her head. "You know as soon as she could use her powers she took off to who knows where."

"Well, than tomorrow we can look using cerebro."

"We can do that, but she wont show up if she isn't using her powers."

"That woman is dim. She'll use them."

Christian looked extremely guilty. Emma reassured him. "You didn't know. I'm just glad that you're okay…and that your you."

The blonde man raised an eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"

Emma took his hand within hers. "I thought you were a clone. Shaw led me to believe that—" Emma had to swallow before she could continue. "—He led me to believe that you were dead."

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that. They told me that they had you, and that if I didn't cooperate they would kill you."

Rogue noticed a flicker in Emma's eyes. "Than they played us both."

Rogue placed her hand on Christian's leg. "Well I'm glad you're okay, but if you both will excuse me, I need to get some rest."

She turned towards Emma. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Emma nodded her head, and returned her attention back towards her brother.

Rogue headed up the stairs, and entered her room. She immediately fell on her bed and wrapped her covers around herself. She had been through a lot tonight. She almost was killed, and to top things off, Kara was now running free.

She quickly pulled up Jean's psychic abilities, and put forth the tendrils of her power to scout the mansion and the surrounding land. She felt a little more comforted when she found that there were no mind patterns that were out of the ordinary. Besides, it wasn't like Kara could do much damage, even if she wanted to.

She rested her head on her pillow, and her thoughts automatically drifted to a certain ruby-eyed man. He still wasn't home, and she was growing concerned.

She heard the familiar hum of a motorcycle engine entering the gates. She bolted up and ran towards her window. She couldn't see the figure, but she knew that they entered the garage. She quickly opened her balcony doors and flew down in that direction.

When she entered the garage, she was once again disappointed. "Oh, hey Logan."

The gruff man raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Expecting somebody else?"

She decided to ignore his question completely. "Where were you at?"

"Out. Last time I checked it's the weekend. Even I need to get away from the school every now and again."

"Yeah. Well I'm going back to bed."

"You worried about the Cajun?"

She quickly turned towards him. "He can do whatever he wants. Its not like I have a say or anything."

"Whatever you say Stripes. But I know you didn't rush down here to make sure I got in okay. I know he left yesterday. He didn't tell you where he was goin', did he?"

She sighed. Why did the man always have to be so intuitive? "No. He didn't."

"Well, you know he'll be back. He has always been the loner type."

Why did everyone have to keep on telling her that? "I know. I'm going back to bed. Oh, and just so you know, Christian is awake."

"That so?"

"Yeah. He didn't know where he was. He tried to kill me."

Logan reached for a cigar in his front pocket. "Yeah? How'd that go?"

"He almost finished the job. Apparently he is a mutant now. I'm sure we will have a meeting about it soon. Oh, and Kara escaped."

"I leave one night and everything goes to shit. You think he is going to want to join the team?"

Rogue couldn't help but smile. She liked how he didn't turn things into a big deal. But she knew that if she would have gotten one scratch, Logan would of tore Christian to pieces, regardless if he was Emma's brother or not. "I donno. It hasn't come up yet."

He brought the cigar up to his mouth. "We will bring it up in the meeting. I'll make sure it's in the afternoon. Go get some sleep. You look tired."

"Thanks. I feel it."

She quickly flew back up to her room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She slowly opened her eyes. She glanced at the clock, and sighed when it read that it was almost eleven. She slowly sat up, and rested for a minute on her bedside. Weekends were supposed to be nice. No school, no danger room sessions, just some nice free time to relax. But not for her, oh no. Her life had become jammed packed with drama lately.

She left the comfort of her bed, and made her way to the shower. She glanced in the bathroom, and decided that she was going to take a bath. She needed some time to relax. She turned on the taps, and watched as steam started to rise from the heat. She poured in some bath salts, and quickly submerged herself within the hot water.

She had only been in for ten minutes, when she felt the tickle of someone attempting to speak telepathically. Emma's voice rung loud and clear.

_Team meeting in fifteen minutes._

She sighed, and quickly washed her body and her hair. She dressed herself, and headed downstairs, her hair still damp.

When she entered, she found that everyone was already there. She placed herself in the seat next to Wolverine.

Emma began to introduce Christian, and explain all the little details that everyone should know about him and the Sinister operation, but she couldn't concentrate.

She noticed that Remy wasn't present, and it was driving her insane. Why couldn't he have just told her where he was going so she wouldn't have to worry? Or maybe he had tried to tell her, but he couldn't find her. After all, she had been outside with Emma.

She mentally shook herself. She needed to stop making excuses for him. He could have left a note, told someone to tell her, anything.

She looked up and noticed that Kitty was looking at her strangely. The girl always knew when something was wrong.

Once again, she felt bad because she hadn't really talked to her since before the mission. She was supposed to be her maid of honor for crying out loud!

As the meeting ended, Kitty confronted her first. "Are you okay? You seemed like you were off in space somewhere."

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

She wasn't about to bother her with her own problems. Besides, she couldn't do anything about it. "I was thinking about your wedding. When are we going to go wedding dress shopping?"

The smaller brunette almost squealed in delight. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about! My dress is being custom made, and I want you and Jean to go to Chicago with me in two weeks to make sure it looks okay. Sorry about the distance, but my mom would kill me if she wasn't there. I also picked out my bridesmaid dresses, and I want you guys to try them on and get fitted."

"Sounds fun. Have you set a date yet?"

Kitty blushed. Well I told you that we wanted to do it soon, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well we set the date for June fifteenth."

Rogue almost gasped at the date. "So soon? It will be May in a week!"

Kitty could only smile. "We don't want to wait. I already have everything planned. It is going to be around here. My whole family is flying up and they can't wait!"

She couldn't be anything but happy for her. "I can't either."

"Well I'll give you the details in a bit, me and Piotr are going to an art exhibit and to maybe look at houses."

Rogue did her best to hide her disappointment. "Are you planning on moving out?"

Kitty didn't seem to notice, and began to blush at the idea. "Well maybe not anytime soon. But, ya know, we might want to eventually start a family. We cant be X-Men forever. We are all going to age ya know."

Rogue knew that Kitty had only meant it as a joke, but the thought had never occurred to her. She had never given any serious thought to being anything else. She knew she would age slower because of her mutation, and planned on staying on the team for as long as possible. She knew that Wolverine knew how she felt. Remy also was blessed to age slowly because of his constant regeneration of energy. He also healed ten times faster than the average person. If she wasn't an X-Men, what was she?

Rogue watched Kitty turn and bounce across the room and make her way over to Piotr. He looked at her lovingly, and Rogue tried to push aside the twinge of jealousy that crept up her chest. Why couldn't she have something like that? She thought that she would with Remy, but maybe she was wrong.

Her thoughts were interrupted by one of the last people that she wanted to speak with.

"How are you Rogue?"

"I'm Fine Warren. You?"

"Okay I guess."

Rogue glanced around the room and noticed that everyone was clearing out rather quickly. She didn't want to be stuck with just the two of them in there. Alone.

She turned to walk out, but he gently grabbed her arm. "Can I talk to you?"

She sighed. So much for that plan. "I guess."

"I miss you."

She almost cringed at the words. The last time they spoke he kissed her without her consent, and Remy just happened to see the whole display.

The situation was awkward, and she didn't know what to do. "We are friends Warren. You're lucky we are even that."

He huffed at her response. "I have already apologized to you. What more do you want from me?"

She scrunched her eyebrows at him. "Nothing! You wanted to talk to me! I don't have time for this." She turned to head out towards the door.

"You at least could have told me!"

She decided to entertain his statement. "What are you talking about?"

He walked closer to her in a frustrated manner. "You could have told me that you wished I was _him_."

She had an uneasy feeling that she knew where this was going. "Who?"

"That scum bag LeBeau. You pine after him like some kind of obsessed groupie."

She immediately became defensive. How could she not? "What's between me and Remy is none of your damn business!"

Warren crossed his arms over his chest. "So something was going on between you two when you were with me?"

She didn't owe him any explanations. He laid his bed. Literally.

"I knew it! I thought that you were smarter than that! He is a womanizing jack ass!"

"You don't know the first thing about him."

"I know that he has brought women back to the mansion even when he was in a relationship with Kara!"

She was getting tired of the conversation. "There were other circumstances in their relationship that you weren't aware of."

"I know that you deserve someone much better."

"Oh, you mean someone like you? You calling Gambit a womanizing jack ass is like the pot calling the kettle black."

Warren softened his words. "I know I messed up. I _know_ that. I already told you how sorry I was. But I had a feeling something was going on between you two, and I didn't…I didn't…"

"You didn't what?"

"I didn't want to be the one who got hurt!"

Rogue looked at him disbelief. "So you thought it was a race? You wanted to hurt me before I hurt you?!"

"I just knew something was going on."

"You're unbelievable." She turned to walk out of the room.

He quickly followed her. "You're wasting your time with him. He doesn't care about you Rogue!"

She continued to walk, trying her best to ignore his stinging words.

"Come on Rogue, don't become one of his cheap, loose thrills—"

She had enough. She abruptly turned around and smacked him on the face. The force caused his head to swing to the side.

"He loves me. I love him. That's it. You don't have the right to talk to me about relationships. As a matter of fact, don't talk to me at all if it doesn't pertain to a mission."

And with that she quickly left the blond man, who was still rubbing his cheek.

She was starting to feel uneasy. It seemed that Remy left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. She would prove them all wrong.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She found Emma setting up Christian in a room of his own. It seemed that he did plan on staying at the mansion for the time being.

She knocked, and allowed herself in since the door was open. "Emma, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Emma turned around and could see her stressed expression. "Sure. Christian I'll be right back."

He turned to face them both and nodded his head. "Take your time. I can't wait to decorate this room!"

Emma rolled her eyes and smiled at his statement and met Rogue in the hallway. "What's wrong?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"I need you to locate Remy for me."

A slow smile began to creep on Emma's face. "A little stalkerish, aren't we?"

"Can you cut it out? I'm worried, that's all."

Emma's smile was still playing on her face. "Why don't you use your own psychic abilities in cerebro?"

"Because I know how dangerous that would be. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Does he have his communicator on him?"

Rogue was becoming impatient. "I guess, but it isn't on. I already tried that and his cell phone."

"We don't have to use cerebro. Why don't you go get one of the communicator tracking devices?"

Rogue suddenly felt dumb. Why hadn't she thought of that? "Oh, okay."

She turned to walk downstairs, and found that Emma was following her. "I got it. You can go back and help Christian if you want."

The blonde woman shrugged her shoulders. "I'm intrigued. He probably is just passed out in a bar close by. Once we find out where he is we can go drag his ass back home."

Rogue couldn't deny the uneasy feeling she had in her stomach. She hoped that was all that had happened. They headed towards the equipment room, which was located right by the jet hangar. Rogue entered first, and headed towards the tiny device. It was cleverly designed as watch, but when activated it would produce a graphic geographical pinpoint of anyone who possessed a communicator, whether it was on or not. It had saved the lives of team members in the past, and that is why Scott made it mandatory that everyone always had to have it on them. He had forgotten to mention to keep it on, and Remy figured out that little loophole. Wherever he was he didn't want to be interrupted, and that bothered her.

Lucky for her, he probably didn't even know about the little device she was now placing on her wrist.

She pressed the dainty button on the side, and a map appeared. Little red lights began to pulse as she zoomed in on the area around the mansion, and noticed when she closed in, names would appear on who was wearing the communication device. She found it amusing that she could see her own little light flashing right next to Emma. It appeared to work.

She searched and had no luck. She zoomed out further and further until the projection reflected the whole map of the United States. She suddenly realized a random little flash located at the lower portion of the map. Her heart dropped as she zoomed in. Sure enough, there he was.

He was in New Orleans.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"I need to borrow your bike."

Logan looked up from the car he was tinkering with. "What for?"

"To drive."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Well if that's the case, why don't you just fly? I'm sure that would be quicker."

"People might freak out if they see someone flying around. I just need it. I'll be back in a few days."

"A few days? You takin' a trip and skippin' out on teaching?"

"You could say that." He was driving her nuts. He knew damn well where she was going.

He dug into his back pocket, and tossed his keys in her direction. "Not one scratch."

"Thanks Logan." She turned around and quickly mounted the bike.

"Hey Stripes?"

"Yeah?"

"When you find him, beat him senseless for me."

She smiled to herself as she started the engine.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When she arrived it New Orleans, it was early in the A.M the next morning. Doubts began to creep and wrap around her conscience. What the hell was she doing? He hadn't told her where he was even going, and here she was. Emma was right; she probably was going to give off major stalker vibes. Not that she cared. She wanted to make sure that he was okay.

She checked into a local hotel. She needed to rest because she drove straight through with the exception of a few pit stops.

She checked into her room, and fell onto the bed. It was springy, but it would do. The room itself wasn't that bad. She had seen worse. Sleep overtook her in mere minutes.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When she awoke, the sun was already setting, preparing for the active nightlife. She silently cursed to herself as she made her way to the shower.

She washed quickly, and stepped out and towel dried herself. She put on a pair of tight jeans and a simple black tank top. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, and turned from side to side. She looked pretty good. She quickly put on some mascara and some lip-gloss.

She had a feeling that she would find him in one of the bars, and she didn't want to look too out of place. The last thing she wanted to look like was a tourist.

She put the tracking device on her wrist, and headed out the door. As she made her way outside she quickly mounted her bike. It was a hot humid night, and she wanted to hurry up and get to her destination.

She turned on the device, and saw the familiar flashing light at a location not too far away from where she was.

A noise interrupted her concentration, and she turned to see a group of drunken women walking along the sidewalk. They appeared to be part of a bachelorette party, and apparently had started their party plans early.

One of the women approached her in a drunken haze. "I loooooooooove your hair."

The woman grabbed a curl and began to examine it. "The color is so cuuuuute!"

She leaned over a little to far, and spilled whatever contents that were in her cup.

Rogue jumped back to avoid the mess, but regretted her actions immediately. The liquid missed her clothes, but spilled right onto her "watch".

The object began to spark, and she quickly removed it. She tapped it a few times, and came to the conclusion that it was broken.

The drunk girl seemed oblivious. "Well bye!" She let out a wild howl as she made her way back to her friends.

She couldn't believe it. She only hoped that he would still be at the same place when she arrived.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When she pulled up to her destination, she wasn't surprised to find out that it was a bar. She dismounted her bike and walked inside. She quickly took in the smoky surroundings. There was already a crowd, many of the patrons already drunk. She glanced around and was disappointed when she couldn't find her target. She huffed to herself. This had to be a sign. Maybe she should just go home.

She turned to walk out of the doors, but was stopped when a man stepped in front of her.

He was cute, but he barely looked old enough to be in the bar. "And just what is a pretty _femme _such as yourself doing in here all alone?"

She rolled her eyes at his pick up line. "I'm looking for someone."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Well Emil knows everybody. You just ask."

"Where is he?"

"You're speaking to him."

Of course she was. What was up with people in this area speaking in third person? She decided to use Gambit's code name, knowing that he probably didn't throw around his real name in an area that he used to do "business" in.

"I'm looking for a man called Gambit."

The younger man almost spit out his drink. "You looking for Remy?"

"Yes."

The guy had a mischievous grin on his face. "For business, or for pleasure?"

She decided to lie. "He told me to meet him here."

He threw his head back and laughed in a drunken fashion. "I don't know how he does it!"

She didn't understand the meaning of his comment, and she wasn't going to ask. The quicker she got moving the better. "Do you know where he went?"

The mischievous grin returned to his face. He was up to no good. "How about you give me a kiss, and I'll tell you."

She was becoming impatient. She decided to put on a little show. She stepped closer to him, making sure to give her most sultry, sexy look. "How about you tell me, and than I wont have to drain you dry."

His eyes lit up. "I don't know, you draining me dry seems like a good idea."

He just wasn't getting the hint. She pulled forth her psychic abilities, and spoke to him in his own mind. _You won't like the draining that I'm talking about._

His eyes widened, and he quickly backed away. "I'm s-s-sorry. Are you one of his X-Men friends?"

She smiled deviously at him. "You could say that."

He quickly grabbed a pencil and paper from who knows where. He scribbled something down and handed it back to her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know he had business. Just tell him that Emil gave you his address."

She looked down at the piece of paper. So this was his address. Her stomach began to do a series of flips as she left the bar.

She got on her bike and followed the directions that where scribbled down on the paper. They led her out of town to a large estate hidden along a back road. As she approached her destination, she became nervous and excited when she saw that his bike was parked out-front. So this was his house. Or one of them anyway. It was beautiful.

She got off her motorcycle and ran her fingers through her air. She took a deep breath in as she knocked on the front door.

She hadn't been waiting long when an older gentleman answered the door. It appeared that he worked there. "I'm sorry, but the family is out."

Maybe this wasn't his house…had she just came to his families home? She began to back down the stairs behind her. "I'm sorry, I just saw Remy's bike here and I thought that—"

The older man cut her off. "The young master is in the guesthouse around back." He shut the door, and she still stood there dumbfounded.

Young Master? Where the hell was she? And it appeared that Remy had had some random women knock on his door before. She was becoming agitated.

She flew up over the house, and saw that the backyard grounds were lovely. There was a large pool in the back, and she could imagine a younger Remy splashing around and having fun in it in the summer time. She located the guesthouse, which wasn't too far away. She flew down on the sidewalk and walked up to the front door, once again becoming nervous. She knocked twice, and heard shuffling on the other side of the door.

She couldn't help it, she was happy to see him.

When the door opened, her smile quickly disappeared.

Before her stood a woman. She had shoulder length blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and a nice red round mouth. Her figure was the same shape of an hourglass, and she was wearing a very short red dress. The woman gave her a smug look as she leaned against the doorframe. "Sorry _Chère, _but we are a little busy at the moment."

Rogue felt her heart sink down to the pit of her stomach.

The other woman attempted to shut the door in her face, but she stopped it with her hand. "I need to talk to Remy. Now."

The women laughed at her. "Remy has kissed many women _Chère,_but has only loved me. I suggest you go back to the hole you crawled out of. Go down town and buy yourself some clothes, you need them. Tell them Bella Donna sent you."

Rogue could feel her fist balling at her sides. She didn't know whom she was going to hurt first. Him? Or the tramp in front of her?

"If it looks like a whore, acts like a whore, dresses like a whore…it must be a whore. And why do you care?"

The blonde woman smirked in her direction. "Because, I'm his wife."

**To be continued…**

**Wowzers, this chapter was long. Remy will be a more dominant character next chapter. Please Review! The next chapter should be up shortly…and don't forget to answer my little Jean or Emma survey!**


	16. Unwelcomed Guests

**I'm back! Well I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Things are definitely about to get interesting. Once again, thanks for all of the wonderful reviews, and thanks to those who answered if they were team Emma or team Jean lol. The feedback and reviews truly do make me keep on moving forward with this story. I love you guys! * ****muah ***

**Well, on with the fic!**

**Chapter 16**

**Unwelcomed Guests**

There were so many different scenarios that she imagined. Bella Donna actually answering her back was not one of them. The question "Why do you care?" was supposed to be more rhetorical than anything.

She stood there silent for a moment too long, and the witch in front of her immediately spotted her hesitation.

"What? He didn't tell you? He's such a silly man."

For the first time in her life, Rogue actually wanted to kill somebody.

She did her best to feign indifference to the new information. "Well, if you don't mind, I would like to speak with him for a short moment and then he is all yours."

The blonde woman smiled deviously in her direction. "He has always been 'all mine' _Chère"_

The word that rolled off of her tongue, which used to hold so much endearment when it left Remy's mouth, suddenly sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

Rogue waited for the woman to move aside. She was serious when she informed her that it would only take a brief moment. She didn't know what she would do when she got inside, but it involved using her fist.

When Bella Donna gave no indication of moving, Rogue decided to take matters into her own hands. She moved her aside as if she weighed no more than a feather, and made her way within the guesthouse.

She gave a brief scan about the room, and didn't locate her target.

All of the sudden, a small blade flew past her head, making its way into the wall. Rogue turned around and saw a look of fury on the other woman's face. "Next time, that blade will be implanted in your brain. Trust me, I'm a trained assassin. That was a warning. The only reason you aren't bleeding out on the floor is because I would hate to stain these beautiful hard wood floors."

Rogue had so many different emotions running through her soul. She had lain with a man. A married man. And not just anyone, but the love of her life. She felt like she was going to break into a million pieces. But she knew that crying was a sign of weakness. The only other outlet that she could muster was anger. Pure, unfiltered rage.

She brought up her telekinesis. She lifted the blonde up about a foot above the floor, and put out the tendrils of her power to slowly stretch at the body hovering before her.

She calmly walked in front of the woman, who seemed to be terrified. "Rule number one: always make sure you know what your opponents advantages over you are."

She could feel the evil of past psyches begin to churn and become excited from the new rush of rage that was now penetrating every single nerve and cell that she consisted of. They began to swim to the front of her mind like excited children waiting for her to unleash her full potential and move in for the kill.

Her eyes darkened, and a look of pure evil contorted her features, causing the hovering blonde to cry.

The new sensation within her was interrupted when she heard a familiar voice yell her name. "Rogue! Don't!"

She immediately came to her senses, and the hold on Bella Donna was released.

She shook herself, disappointed that she let the emotions of those in the past influence her decisions. It frightened her that for the first time in a long while, she almost lost control.

Bella immediately rushed to Remy, burying her face in his shirt. She lifted her face to his. "Is this the kind of crazy women that you like Remy?"

Rogue suddenly didn't know what to do. She was mad at herself, mad at him. She had so many conflicting emotions at the moment. She was about to speak, but her words ran away with her breath when she heard his response.

"She's nothing to me." He looked up at Rogue, and he had a stoic expression on his face. "You shouldn't of come here."

It took everything in her power not to break down in tears. "I thought you were hurt. I didn't know that—"

He interrupted her. "Well you can see I'm fine. My _wife _and I have business to attend to. I assume since you busted in here, you know where the door is at?"

Her world was slowly beginning to collapse around her. She walked up to him, and stared for a moment into his blood red eyes. She could see no emotion in them. No sadness. No remorse. He had played her. It had all been a game. She knew that she had just been one of his many conquests.

There were so many things that she wanted to do. Slap him and make his head bash against the wall. Cry and ask him why he would do this to her.

But she couldn't move. She couldn't think straight.

She took a step back; giving everything she had to keep the water that was now present in her eyes from spilling over. "I would have understood if you told me. I would have loved you with everything that I had."

She tried to take in any reaction from him, but there were none.

"I hate you Remy LeBeau. You will never touch me again."

She allowed herself out, and walked in a daze to her motorcycle. She mounted the bike, and started the engine.

She left the estate, and made her way back to her hotel.

When she arrived, she slowly crept up to her floor and opened the door to her room.

She was in a state of shock, and knew it. She gently sat on the edge of the bed, and stared at the wall. She felt like she was in a horrible nightmare, and any moment she would awake and find Remy lying besides her.

Against her will, her chest began to do a series of heaves. She tried to stop them, but as soon as one subsided, the next would mount up and overtake her. She held her hand to her chest, and wondered if it was possible for the human heart to actually break. The next thing she knew, tears were staining her face, and she was racked with sobs. They were uncontrollable, and she couldn't have stopped them if she had tried

She had been so stupid. So incredibly stupid. Everyone had told her he was no good, but she just didn't listen. It was her own damn fault.

She cried for what seemed like hours. How did this happen? How did she_ allow_ it to happen? She had been so blind by her emotions that she stupidly put her gut instincts aside.

When she felt like her body was dry, as if she would soon wither away if she released one more tear, she sat up.

She would be damned if she let a man ruin her. She was tough and a survivor. It was no good to mope around. She would just have to put her hard exterior up again. She used to be trained in keeping people and their emotions at bay. She would have to do it again. She would never feel like this again. She would never _love_ again.

She decided she needed a drink. She wanted to be reckless.

Careless.

Dangerous.

Fuck him.

She quickly stood and headed over to the mirror. She did her best to reapply her makeup.

She examined herself, and knew that she had an advantage over the average female when it came to looks. She hated to seem so shallow, so she never really admitted it to herself until tonight.

She exited her room, and decided to head back to the bar she had found herself at earlier.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When she reached her destination, she immediately sat herself at the bar, and ordered a shot of bourbon.

The bartender raised his eyebrow at her. "You sure sweetie? A sweet thing like you must have the taste for a drink that isn't so—"

She cut him off. "I didn't ask for your damn advice, just give me my drink. And keep em' comin'."

He raised his hands in mock surrender, and grabbed a bottle from behind the bar. He poured it into her glass, and slid it across the bar.

It had barely left his hands when she put the glass to her mouth and pulled at the amber liquid. The sensation burned immensely, and she had to try her best not to cough up the contents.

She slammed the glass down on the counter and signaled for him to pour her another.

He did as he was told, and refilled her glass.

She took a few more, and it wasn't long before she felt the effects of the drink. She looked over, and saw a familiar face.

The guy known as Emil…she took a moment to laugh. It was such a weird name. _Emil_.

Anyway, he was making his way over to her with a look of worry on his face. "Did you talk to Remy? I'm sorry that I was difficult with you earlier, I didn't know that you had business with him."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Its okay. I just screwed him. I thought I loved him, and he told me…I hate French!"

Wow. It was really hard for her to get all her thoughts out in a way where they made sense.

He smirked at her, and took a seat next to her. "Is that so?"

She looked over at him, and noticed that he was quite cute. "Yup. Fuck him. Well not again, but you…you know what I mean."

He smiled and shook his head. She continued. "How do you know him anyway?"

He took a swig from his own drink. "He's my cousin."

She rolled her eyes. Of course he was. "I hate your cousin."

He smirked at her, which was oddly familiar. "So I've heard."

She was so sick of playing things safe. Her whole life she had played it safe, and yet here she was in this pitiful predicament.

She needed to get her mind off of Remy, and she knew how she was going to do it. "So Emil, you have a place?"

"Well yeah…"

"How about we go there."

His eyes flashed with excitement, and she took that as her cue to stand up.

That was a mistake. The room started to spin, and she lost her balance. She leaned on the other man, and all of the sudden her world went black.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She awoke the next morning to someone pounding at a door. She moaned and placed a pillow over her head. She peaked from beneath her fluffy fortress, and realized she wasn't at her hotel. She abruptly sat up, and immediately regretted her decision. Her head was throbbing.

Damn alcohol.

She did her best to heal herself of the hangover with Wolverines mutation, but it seemed a little to late for that.

Where the hell was she. She remembered being at the bar, and talking to that guy…oh shit. She quickly threw the covers back, and was relieved to see that she still wore the exact same outfit that she had on the night before. She couldn't believe how careless she had been. Then she remembered why she had been drinking in the first place.

She immediately felt depressed.

The pounding continued, and she heard a males voice reply, "I'm comin' I'm comin', hold on a minute."

She heard the door bust open.

And then she heard_ his _voice. "Where is she?"

She heard Emil's confused response. "Where is who?"

She heard shuffling, and she knew that Remy had thrown him up against the wall. "Don't play fucking stupid with me. I have eyes all over this city. I know she came back here with you."

"Relax! She's sleeping!"

"If you even put one fucking finger on her I'll—"

"I didn't touch her! She passed out stone cold. I couldn't just leave her there!"

She began to panic. She couldn't see him. She didn't want to see him. She immediately got out of the bed and hurried over towards the window.

She silently cursed when the bedroom door flew open. She stood, still facing the window, contemplating whether or not she should just fly out.

She heard his steps move slowly towards her, until he was directly behind her.

"_Chère, _I need to explain—"

She flung around to face him. "How dare you! I don't need you to explain anything. You were quite clear last night about things. It's done. I'm over it."

She attempted to make her way past him, but he moved and blocked her exit. "I had to act like that last night! It killed me to see you hurt!"

She stared at him in disbelief. "It killed you? It killed _you?_ It didn't seem like it when you told me to leave. Everyone told me that you were a snake, I should have listened."

She attempted to make her way past him once more, but he grabbed her hands and placed them on his chest. "You don't understand! I had to act like that!"

"Fuck you!"

She had no more words than those. It was exactly how she felt.

His eyes began to glow crimson red. "Just fucking listen! Please!"

The desperation in his voice silenced her. "You have five minutes. Better make it worth my while."

She turned and sat on the bed, refusing to meet his gaze as he began to speak. "Years ago, when I was young and stupid, I thought I was in love with Bella. As you found out, she is an assassin. But she wasn't just any assassin; she was the daughter of their patriarch. Our parents had planned for our union as long as I can remember as a way to unite the guilds. I did marry her, but that same day her brother tried to kill me. He had a weird relationship with her that till this day I still haven't figured it out. I tried to defend myself, and in the process I accidentally killed him."

He took a moment to read her reaction, and she still sat on the bed, facing away from him.

"I was banished from New Orleans after that. You know the rest of what happened since then. Not too long ago Bella lifted my exile when her father died. She tried to reconcile with me, but I explained that it was never going to happen. Rogue, I came down here to finalize my divorce. I love you so much, that I wanted to be entirely yours. Only yours."

She turned towards him with a fresh batch of tears in her eyes. "You didn't exactly act like you loved me when I found you last night."

"I can explain that. If she knew that I was getting a divorce to be with you, she wouldn't allow it to happen. Belle is a jealous woman, and she would refuse to sign the papers."

She couldn't take anymore of it. Her heart had taken on too much. "Well seems that it doesn't matter anymore. I have to go Remy."

She stood up and made her way to the door.

He seemed dumbfounded by her response. "That's it? Do you know how much I went through to get her to sign? I did it for you!"

"You shouldn't have bothered."

"Why are you acting like this?"

She shoved her finger in his chest. "Because you lied to me! You should have told me what was going on. But I'm glad you didn't because it made me realize one thing. You will never change. You will always be the sneaky, conniving swamp rat that you are!"

"I did it all for you!"

"And you should have told me what was going on instead of leaving me in the dark!"

She began to cry. "I slept with you Remy! I told you I loved you! You could have at least been honest with me!"

He attempted to bring her face towards his. "I didn't want to worry you."

He abruptly moved in, and placed his mouth upon hers. She quickly shoved him back, angry at his attempt to kiss her.

She wiped at her mouth as if he had just placed poison on her lips. "I meant what I said Remy. You will never touch me again!"

She couldn't take anymore of this. She pushed past him and heard him call out to her. "Rogue, please…I love you—"

"She turned towards him one final time. "Don't you dare! Don't you dare tell me that! If you loved me, you would trust me. You would trust me enough to tell me the truth. We're done Remy."

She quickly turned around and ran from the room. She refused to look back, because if she did she would become weak. She left the home she was in and flew into the sky. She would pick up Logan's bike, and head back towards the mansion.

**Two Months Later**

Everyone knew that something significant had happened between Rogue and Remy down in Louisiana. Their first clue was that Remy had yet to return, and they had no idea if he had any intentions of doing so.

They knew it was taking a huge toll on her. Her eyes no longer had the lively sparkle that they once contained. They now were hollow and empty. When she first arrived back to the mansion, she didn't leave her room for one whole week.

She finally agreed to resume teaching when she became fed up with Logan's numerous threats.

She would partake in danger room sessions, but wouldn't participate in the lively banter between teams. She was closed off, and they all knew why.

It was June fifteenth, and Rogue found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror. She wore a pretty buttercup colored dress. For the first time in a long while she felt content. Today was a happy day. She had a wedding to attend to.

She headed down towards the car with Jean. The red head smiled warmly at her. "We better get a move on. Kitty is getting her hair done right now, so we are going to be right on time to help her put on the dress."

Kitty was getting married on a property that was locally owned. When Rogue arrived, she took in the beautiful location. It seemed like pure and untouched land, and had a large creek with a beautiful cascading waterfall. Rogue could see why Kitty would choose this location. It was absolutely breath taking.

She saw all the chairs set up for the ceremony, and glanced to find the lodge that housed her friend. She quickly spotted it, and headed in that direction with Jean.

They entered through the lower floor, and were astonished by the vast size of the banquet hall. Its ceilings were made of rich mahogany wood, and they arched making the ceiling look almost dome like in appearance. A grand staircase was the center point, and Rogue knew that was where Kitty would be introduced to the room as Mrs. Rasputin. She smiled to herself as they headed up the stairs to locate the room their friend was in.

When they entered her room, Kitty was getting her makeup applied by a local make up artist. Her mother was fussing over her hair, trying to make sure that every strand was tucked neatly into place. Kitty turned to face them, and looked relieved. "I am so glad you guys are here. I'm so freakin' nervous! Go sit over there, and Trish will do your hair."

Rogue headed towards the woman that she assumed was Trish, and sat down while she began to work on her hair. She styled it with curls that cascaded over her right shoulder. Rogue liked how she looked, and noticed that Jeans hair was done in a similar fashion.

It wasn't long before they were all ready for Kitty's ceremony. They just needed to put her in her dress.

As she helped Kitty shimmy into the white material, she had a rush of emotions overtake her. She had seen her try on her dress at the shop in Chicago, but she looked absolutely beautiful with her hair and makeup done as well.

Rogue could only describe the dress as a princess style, and it suited her brunette friend. Kitty turned around to her and Jean and smiled. "How do I look?"

Every one in the room fawned all over her, expelling compliments.

She quickly took Rogue's hand, and pulled her to the side. "Rogue, I'm so nervous! What if he doesn't show or something?"

Rogue had to laugh at her friends upset nerves. "Kitty, he loves you. The man is crazy about you, and hasn't given any indication that he wanted to back out. There aren't any other two people that are more perfect for each other than the both of you."

Kitty began to make a fanning motion at her eyes with her hands. "Oh my gosh, you're going to make me cry!"

Rogue smiled, and helped her fan. "Well don't, we don't want to ruin that perfect makeup of yours!"

They both shared a laugh, and then there was a knock at the door. The wedding planner poked her head in and said, "It's time!"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Rogue stood up by Kitty, trying to pay attention to what the Rabbi was saying, but she couldn't get past the way the two were looking at each other. There was so much love and trust between them both, and she was truly happy for them.

However, there was a small part of her that felt saddened by the blessed event. She could have had a love like theirs. She knew it was partially her fault, just as much as_ his._ She was also sad that things were actually about to change. She knew it was coming, but now that the wedding day was here it hit her. Everyone seemed to be changing for the better, and she felt like she was going to get left behind.

As the ceremony came to an end, the couple was announced for the first time as "Mr. and Mrs. Piotr Rasputin." There was a loud applause, and she followed the happy couple as they made their way to the banquet hall.

The celebration was in full swing when she spotted him for the first time. He was in the corner with Wolverine, and they were sharing a laugh. She knew that he had been invited, but she was angry. How dare he come and act like nothing had ever happened. And what the hell was so damn funny? Last time she checked, him and Logan weren't the best of friends, and now they were chatting it up like they were the best of buds.

She turned around, and decided to make her way over to Jean and Scott. The D.J inconveniently chose that moment to play a slower song, and couples everywhere began to crowd the dance floor.

She sighed to herself. She needed a drink. She headed towards the bar.

Before she made it to her destination, she heard a voice that sent chills up her body. "Care to dance _Chère?"_

She was afraid to even turn around. "I'm good."

"One little dance won't kill ya."

He grabbed her hand, and she reluctantly allowed him to lead her onto the floor. He grabbed her hand within his, and placed his other one on the small of her back. The contact alone made her giddy, and she mentally kicked herself.

This was the man that she hadn't seen in two months, ever since he had broken her heart. And now he wanted to show his face and act like nothing had ever happened.

She decided against making eye contact with him as they swayed to the song.

"You look beautiful."

She rolled her eyes, and decided to ignore his comment.

He chuckled, and it made her heart ache. "You're still stubborn I see."

She turned to him sharply and narrowed her eyes in his direction, trying not to cause a scene. She lowered her voice and spat, "Cut the small chit chat. Lets just get this over with."

She could tell that he was about to speak, but she also noticed his hesitation. "Rogue, I wanted to come back so many times. I just didn't know how to address everything."

"There is nothing to address."

He lifted her face towards his own, and for the first time she truly took in his appearance. His eyes where like her own in appearance. They had lost their luster. It seemed like he had been getting about as much sleep as her these days, and it reflected in his looks. He was broken just like her, and it killed her inside to see him like this.

He stopped their movements and spoke. "I'm sorry."

The words were so simple, yet they had a huge impact. She tried to turn away from him, but he wouldn't allow it. "Please…"

She didn't know what he was about to say. The desperation in his voice confirmed everything. He was hurting just as much as she was. It also confirmed that he still loved her. And as much as she tried to deny it, she still loved him too. As much as she tried to deny it, she missed him terribly.

Yet she wasn't going to give in so easy. "So, when are you coming back home?"

He smiled down at her. "As soon as you tell me to."

She smiled to herself. "Well, I don't see any need for you to stay in New Orleans. I mean the team could use you for missions, especially now since Piotr and Kitty will be on their honeymoon."

He decided to play along with her little banter. "I guess I could help out for awhile."

The two locked eyes, and he leaned down towards her mouth. At that moment, the song ended, and Rogue quickly backed out of his grasp. As much as she wanted him, she couldn't just take down the guarded wall that she now had in place. "I'll talk to you later?"

He smirked down at her. "Later in your room? I can show you the many ways of how sorry I am."

His smooth voice caused the familiar ache to course throughout her body. She knew he was joking with her, but she quickly became serious. "Remy, you hurt me. Bad. I just need to take things slow."

He grabbed her hand, and placed a gentle kiss on top of it. "I'll wait forever if I have to."

She smiled up at him, and made her way past him towards Emma. She sat at one of the decorated tables and looked bored to death. "Hey."

The blonde woman looked up at her. "This sucks. I can't drink, I feel bloated and fat, and everybody here is a couple, including you."

Rogue rolled her eyes at Emma's dramatics. She still looked gorgeous, and Rogue could barely notice the small bump that was beginning to show on her abdomen. "You look great, and I am not a couple with anyone!"

Emma looked at her and smiled. "Say all you want, but I saw how your eyes lit up for the first time in months. It's only a matter of time."

Rogue smiled inwardly. Deep down inside she knew she was right.

Christian came over and sat next to his sister. He was now an official member of the team, and fit in quite nicely. "Hey lovely ladies. Wasn't this wedding just absolutely gorgeous?"

He scanned around the room as if he was looking for somebody. "I wonder if Kitty has any hunky relatives."

Emma laughed. "No, I already checked."

Christian shrugged his shoulders. "It's okay, long distance relationships never work anyway."

The night was dwindling to an end, and the happy couple announced that they were retiring for the night. There were some hoots and hollers, and Rogue decided that it was time for her to retire as well.

Remy approached her. "Want to ride back with me?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I want to fly home. Want to join me?"

She saw him visually cringe as he responded. "Woman, I have already been there done that. I'll see ya back at the mansion?"

"Yeah."

As she turned to walk away, he quickly grabbed her hand and brought her back to him. He held her there for a moment, and then he placed a passionate kiss on her mouth. She felt her knees go weak, and she was certain that if he hadn't been holding her up she would have collapsed. She didn't realize how much she had missed him until now.

He finally released her, and gave his signature smirk. "You sure you haven't been practicing with anybody?'

"Wouldn't you like to know."

She smiled down at his priceless expression as she took to the sky.

She made it home before all of the other residents of the mansion. Since it was summer the students had returned home, and it was completely empty. That was one of the perks of flying. She was able to get everywhere quicker than everyone else. She headed to her room to get changed out of her dress.

She threw on a tank top and some pajama bottom shorts. It was a beautiful night, and she decided to head outside to the grounds and wait for everyone to arrive.

She glided down out of her balcony and decided to head towards the garden. It reminded her of Storm, and she wanted to make sure that the upkeep was being done properly.

When she made it to the garden, she immediately sensed something was wrong. She didn't know how, but something felt entirely off. Her suspicions were confirmed when she heard the voice of someone who she thought was long gone.

"Have a fun night?"

Rogue turned towards the voice and sneered. "What the hell do you want Kara. You know you can't hurt me."

Kara smiled in a sadistic way. "I can't hurt you, but I figured out a way to hurt him…just like he hurt me."

Rogue knew that she was referring to Remy. She got into a defensive stance, awaiting Kara's attack.

Another voice was heard, and she didn't even have enough time to react as she felt the sting of a needle penetrate her neck.

"You devious little girl. You thought you could get rid of me? Sebastian Shaw? I will have you. And you will pay dearly."

**To be continued…**

**Please review guys and gals!**


	17. The Captive

**A/N: Hey guys :) **** I have returned. I feel like I'm always apologizing because of my update time. I have no excuse. . My muse was just on vacation. To make up for it, I made this chapter a long one. Keep the reviews up; I absolutely love the feedback! Well I'll keep this note short. On with the fic!**

**Chapter 17**

**The Captive**

He stood outside of her door. He had been standing there for what seemed like an eternity. He had to make a decision.

Should he enter her room? Or should he enter his own? Alone?

The word "alone" made him shudder.

He knew that she said she wanted to take things slow, but that idea was almost painful. He had missed her. And now she was just so close, and her essence was drawing him in like a moth to a flame.

He stared at the door handle. He already knew it was unlocked because he had given it a cautious twist to confirm it.

So, was this her blatant way of telling him that he had permission to enter? Or was he looking into the matter entirely too much?

He ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. Damn he wanted that woman. He was certain that if she could see the condition that she had put him in, she would laugh hysterically.

He smirked to himself at the thought of her smile.

He wanted her to be happy, and the last thing he wanted to do was make the wrong move. She had said that she wanted to take things slow, and he would abide to her new rule, at least for now. The thought of their first night together had consumed his mind, and he wanted to do it again very, _very _soon.

He reluctantly turned towards his own door, and entered his room for the night.

Alone.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He got up early the next morning. He had every intention of getting his work out in early, so he could designate his day just for her. He didn't care if it took forever, he would prove to her how much he loved her.

He went to the training room and got a quick work out in, and then headed to his room for a shower.

After he bathed, he quickly got dressed and made his way down towards the kitchen. He knew Rogue was fond of her food, and he was going to cook her up her favorite breakfast. It was a little concoction that consisted of cutting a hole in the center of a piece of bread, and frying an egg in the middle. They had argued about the name of it many times. He had called it a bird's nest, while she was somehow under he impression that it was called a popeye egg. In his opinion, his name for it made way more sense. He also planned on cooking her up some of his famous blueberry pancakes.

As he started to cook, he heard a grunt from Wolverine as he entered the kitchen. That sound alone signified that the older man had acknowledged and accepted the fact that he had returned to the mansion. Last night, he was almost friendly.

He put on some coffee, and the other man came over and helped himself. He raised an eyebrow in Remy's direction. "Hungry?"

Remy smirked. "It's not just for me."

Logan could only roll his eyes as he exited the kitchen.

Remy glanced at the clock and noticed that it was almost nine. Rogue was most likely up right now and getting ready for her day. He knew that whatever she had planned, she would definitely make a stop in the kitchen first.

He arranged their plates side by side, and set a heaping mound of pancakes and bird's nests (or popeye eggs) in the center.

He poured two cups of steaming coffee, and made sure to place plenty of sugar packets next to hers.

The others started to come into the kitchen, smiling knowingly at him. Jean even let out an "Aww", and then proceeded to playfully slap Scott saying that he should do that for her.

He glanced at the clock and became slightly impatient when he realized it was 9:30 A.M. He just figured that although it was unusual, she had decided to sleep in a little later than normal.

When another hour passed, he realized that she wasn't coming down. He stood and stared at the layout before him. He couldn't be mad at her though, because he hadn't exactly asked her to join him. He was just going off of her routine, and he knew that this was always a mandatory stop for her.

He made her a plate, zapped it in the microwave for a few minutes, and proceeded to head to her bedroom. If she wasn't going to come to him, he would go to her. Besides, who didn't like breakfast in bed?

He smirked to himself. He had never made another woman breakfast before. It was always the member of the opposite sex that had catered to him in the mornings, that is if he even decided to stay that long. It was a rare occurrence.

He bounded up the stairs two steps at a time until he came to her room.

As he stood outside of her door, he knocked lightly. "_Chère?"_

There was no answer. He knocked a little harder, and when there was still no response, he decided that there wasn't any harm with him entering. At least he hoped so. He was more than aware that his _Chère _had quite the temper. Everyone in the mansion knew that.

He cracked open the door, and immediately noticed that her balcony doors were open. He glanced at her bed, and also noticed that it was empty and made up.

He looked around her room. He saw that her dress was still on the floor, which was strange. Why would she make up her bed, and not do a little mundane task like pick her clothes up off of the floor?

He checked her bathroom, which also indicated that she hadn't showered that morning.

Odd.

He knew he was probably over reacting, but he carefully touched the bristles of her toothbrush, and found that they were dry. Her flying out of the mansion through the balcony doors without getting ready was highly unlikely. The dry bristles indicated that she left either last night or extremely early this morning, and both scenarios were doubtful.

He picked up the plate and was headed out when he saw a groggy Bobby exiting his room. "Hey, have you seen Rogue?"

Bobby rubbed his eyes and blinked them a few times. "When did you get back?"

Remy realized that communicating with Bobby was a wasted effort, and he handed him the plate of food. "_Bon appetit."_

Bobby looked down confused, but happy. "Thanks man!"

"Don't mention it." Remy had much more serious issues to deal with at the moment.

He headed down towards Emma's room. He knocked lightly, and heard a groan from the other side.

"Emma, can I come in?"

He could here her answer from the other side. "If you must."

He opened the door, and saw that Emma was in her bathroom with the door cracked.

He pushed it open a bit further, and found her hugging the toilet seat for dear life. She looked like a disheveled mess, which was extremely out of her character. She glanced in his direction and narrowed her eyes. "I said you could come in my room, not barge in my bathroom!"

Remy leaned against the doorframe and smirked. "You know you have to make things clear with me."

She was about to retort when another wave of sickness hit her. She heaved in the direction of the toilet. When she was finished, she turned back to address him. "I seriously have nothing left inside if me, yet my body insists otherwise. Whoever said that pregnancy was a miracle was clearly insane."

She sat back on her heels and turned her head in his direction. "Well, did you come to watch the show, or is there another reason you have graced me with your presence?"

"As good as this is, there is another reason. Have you seen Rogue?"

For the first time Emma smirked. "You mean she didn't fuck your brains out last night? Lord knows she was thinking about it at Kitty's reception."

Remy stored that little bit of information in his head. He would definitely use it to his advantage. "No, she was in her room when I got in. I didn't want to disturb her."

Emma turned back towards the toilet and let out another heave. When she was finished she wiped her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't seen her. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to barf and be in utter misery by myself."

Remy awkwardly ran his hand along the back of his neck. "Do you want me to get Scott-"

"NO!"

He had barely finished the sentence before she answered.

"I don't know if you realize it or not Gambit, but Scott has made his choice, and it wasn't me."

He was almost feeling sorry for her, but then she continued. "Now would you get the fuck out of my room? You smell like fried eggs and it is absolutely awful."

He grinned down at her. "I'll be sure to bring you a plate up."

She immediately turned back to the toilet, and he grinned to himself as he exited the room.

As he shut the door behind him, he headed back to Rogue's room to see if there was any sign of her return. When he found that there was none, he knew whom he had to talk to. He reluctantly made his was to the danger room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When he entered the observation room, he saw the gruff man below tearing into sentinels like they were mere tuna cans.

Remy knew it was a dangerous move, but he canceled the simulation.

The furious little man abruptly turned in his direction. "There better be a damn good reason you just did that Gumbo, or else I'm gonna slice off something on your body that I know your very fond of."

"I'm fond of everything on my body."

Wolverine snarled in his direction. "Trust me, it seems you like this one thing more than everything else."

Remy smirked at him. "Wolverine, I would appreciate it if you stopped talking about my dick. Its almost obsessive of you…although it would explain why you never have any female company…"

The shorter man let out a growl, and Remy decided to get to the point. "Have you seen Rogue?"

Wolverine stood up a little bit straighter, and actually looked slightly uncomfortable. "No, I uh….I thought she would be with you."

"As much as I wish that was true, she wasn't. I haven't seen her since the reception."

The gruff man raised his eyebrows. "You actually decided to respect her wishes? That's out of your character Cajun."

"I know. It wasn't easy."

Wolverine eyed him for a moment. "You really do love her, don't ya?"

Remy instantly became serious. "With everything in my being."

"Okay, okay, don't get all mushy on me. I'll check her room out."

Remy nodded, and proceeded to follow the other man up to Rogue's room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Moments later, Wolverine had determined that Rogue had left her room through the balcony doors.

Remy had come to that conclusion himself, and was frustrated when that was Wolverines only theory.

"Can you check the grounds?"

Wolverine raised an eyebrow. "You worried about somethin' Cajun?"

"It's just not like her to take off, at least not from the mansion."

The older man pointed a finger in his direction. "If you even did one thing to run her off, I'll—"

Remy cut him off before he could finish. "I didn't."

"Well than, I'll go outside to see what I can pick up." He then leapt out the window, and landed with a loud 'thud' on the grassy grounds. He was in the process of turning around with a smug look on his face, when he discovered that Gambit had already made it down right next to him. "How did you…"

"Wolverine! You underestimate me. I'm agile and I used to be a thief."

The other man grunted in response. He lifted his nose in the air, indicating that he had caught sent of something. Remy observed him, and couldn't help but feel appreciative for the older man's help. He was a necessity to the team, and they wouldn't have been able to accomplish half of the missions without him, but he would never tell him that.

Wolverine lowered his head back down. "She went this way."

Remy followed him until they made it to the garden. Remy looked around, and noticed that nothing was out of the ordinary.

He turned to Wolverine, and wasn't so certain when he saw his face. "She was here, with three other people. And one was definitely Kara. The other two I have never smelled before."

Remy quickly looked for a sign of struggle and found that there was none. He wondered how this was possible since Rogue was pretty much indestructible. "Can you tell where they went off too?"

He was slowly becoming frantic.

Wolverine only shook his head. "No. The trail goes dead. They must have covered it somehow."

Remy turned away before Logan was even finished. He was going to their resident telepath to see if she could locate Rogue with Cerebro.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Emma wasn't to keen at the idea of leaving the bathroom, but she quickly changed her mind when she discovered the circumstances.

They had been using Cerebro for hours now, and they were nowhere closer to finding where she was.

Emma reluctantly removed the headpiece. "Where ever she is, her powers are most likely inhibited. I tried tracking Kara, and there was no trace of her either."

She turned to Remy when she spoke next. "I also tried to locate Shaw. It is as if he has disappeared. I fear that what ever has taken place, he has something to do with it."

Remy began to pace the floor. "How the hell would Kara even know to contact Shaw? That bastard didn't even know who the fuck he was when we saw him!"

Emma stood up from her seat. "Kara did go on the mission with us when we destroyed Sinister's lab. She could have easily figured things out. Plus, when she was a captive I'm sure she would have heard word about Shaw somehow."

Remy quickly turned to head out the doors. Wolverine followed him.

Emma quickly jogged to catch up to the two. "Where the hell are you both going?"

Remy didn't even turn around when he spoke. "I'm goin' to Stuart's Place. That son of a bitch knows something, and I'll do anything to get the information out of him!"

Emma huffed at his response. "That's your grand idea? You will be killed on sight. We need to have a meeting to catch everyone up…then we can decide what to do."

Remy stopped and turned towards her. "We can't waste another minute! You didn't see the look of pure horror on her face when she saw that man! And now he is doing God only knows what to her."

Emma became angry. "You think I'm not worried? I actually had to deal with the man! I do know one thing though. He is angry with her, yes. But he won't damage or kill her. She is too valuable to him. We have to meet and devise a plan Remy, and then we can at least go from there. If you go to Stuarts mansion now, its almost a guarantee that you'll be killed, and than what good are you to her?"

Remy balled his fist with impatience, but he knew she was right, "Fine. Call the meeting. But I am still going over there when we're are finished."

"That's fine. We will at least have a plan then."

Emma suddenly remembered something. "We should use the communicator tracker first. That's how she found you when you left."

Remy had wondered how she had located him. "Will it work even if it isn't turned on?"

Emma was quickly leading the small group to the device room. "Yes."

When the device was activated, Remy quickly searched for her location, and wasn't surprised when they turned up empty handed. "We're wasting time with this shit. Call the meeting; after that I'm outta here."

The three headed to the war room as Emma sent out a telepathic message to the X-Men.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When the others were briefed about what had happened, they immediately began to brainstorm possible ideas of where they should start. They had all reluctantly come to the decision that they needed all the help they could get, and Kitty and Piotr would have to have their honeymoon cut short.

They also agreed to contact the professor about everything.

They finally decided to go scout out Mr. Stuart's mansion, since he was their only actual lead to determine the whereabouts of Shaw.

Since it was just a scouting mission, Remy, Wolverine, and Jean were selected to go, much to the protest of Scott. But it was determined that they would need a telepath to listen into the thoughts of the enemy, and even Scott knew the dangers that could occur to his unborn child within Emma. There for, he reluctantly agreed.

The three crouched in the brush outside of the mansion gates. Remy silently cursed to himself for agreeing to take the other two with him on the mission. To him, it sounded like a parade marching behind him. They really had to work on their covert tactics. Jean was the worst of the two, and seemed offended when Remy suggested that she might as well run naked screaming in the front yard. She became a tad quieter after that.

He observed the grounds, and noticed that there were no guards in place. Jean put out the coils of her telepathy, and had found the same.

He glanced around at the numerous security cameras and devices, and became concerned when he couldn't see the tell tale sign of a flashing red light showing that they were active.

He made a quick decision on his own, and took off at a silent rapid pace towards the mansion.

Wolverine hissed after him. "What the hell are you doin' Cajun? You're gonna blow our cover!"

Remy chose to ignore him and ran to the closest window.

His heart fell in his chest when he looked inside.

The place was completely empty.

The other two were quickly behind him. Wolverine was about to lecture about patience to the younger man, when he was silenced by Jean. He decided to listen when he saw the look on Gambit's face. He had seen that look before on more than one occasion. It was a look of despair.

Remy shook his head back and forth. He felt like he was in a nightmare. If there was no one here, they had no starting point and no lead. They would be completely clueless on the whereabouts of Rogue.

Jean came up behind him, and rested her hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her Gambit, maybe we should got back and try using Cerebro again."

He quickly shrugged away from her touch, and decided to do some further investigating of his own. He charged a card and threw it at the nearest wall of the large home. There was a large explosion, and when the dust finally settled, there was a great gaping hole in the brick. Remy gestured at the other two to follow.

Jean glanced at Logan with a concerned look on her face. It wasn't exactly in their teammate's character to act reckless like he was.

They entered the mansion, and found that it was indeed, completely empty. Stuart made sure that he did an excellent job covering up his tracks.

Wolverine sniffed the air. "Nothing. All I can smell is bleach. They must have scrubbed the place down to cover up anything."

Remy knew it was hopeless, but he headed upstairs to the room that used to be Stuarts private office. The other two glanced at each other before following.

When Remy entered, the first thing he noticed was that this room still had all its furnishings. He quickly barked out orders. "Search everything. This is where we found those documents."

The mention of "we" made his heart drop. He should have never let Rogue come with him on that mission. If she hadn't, she may have still been with them. Better yet, he should have just left her alone all together. Kara would never have gone bat shit crazy if he had done so. This was his punishment for attempting to be happy. This was Karma for all of the women that he had hurt in his past. For the first time in his life he had actually fell hard for a woman, and she was ripped from his grasps.

Wolverine interrupted his thoughts. "There's nothing here Gambit."

Remy shook his head back and forth. "No. There has to be something!" He frantically began to pull apart the desk, throwing the drawers on the floor as he did so.

Jean spoke softly. "Remy, let's regroup back at the mansion. We _will_ find her. We all want her home safe."

Remy ignored her, and turned his attention towards the safe he knew was hidden in the couch across the room. He quickly threw the cushions to the side, and plugged in the code that he had memorized. He lifted the heavy door back, and was greeted with a small device with bright red glowing numbers. An electronic voice then spoke from the small device. "_Activated. Will self destruct in ten seconds." _All of the sudden, metal slabs appeared and sealed all of the windows.

He jumped up and ran towards the others. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! IT'S A BOMB!"

_Nine…_

The other two wasted no time and ran after him. He attempted to blow up the metal on the windows so they could make a quick escape, but it was useless.

_Eight…_

The three bolted out of the room and ran towards the stairs.

_Seven…_

_Six…_

_Five…_

On the last flight, Jean took a spill and landed with a hard thud on the main floor. She attempted to stand and quickly collapsed in agony.

_Four…_

"I think I broke my leg!"

_Three…_

Wolverine quickly scooped her up within his arms as the made their way to the large hole in the wall that Gambit had created.

_Two…_

They finally made it to their destination and ran away from the building as fast as they could.

_One…_

All of the sudden there was a deafening silence, followed by the sound of a large explosion. The force threw Remy against the ground, and he lay still gasping for air. He couldn't seem to breathe. He felt fluid on the front of his uniform, and already knew that it was blood.

He managed enough energy to look towards the other two, and was relieved when he saw them trying to rise from the ground. Jean looked over in his direction, and her eyes widened when she took in the sight of him. It made him wonder how bad of shape he was in.

She quickly hopped up, dragging her lame leg behind her. She fell to the ground by him and began to apply pressure on his chest with her hands. "Hang on Gambit, the others will be here shortly."

She was shouting something to Wolverine, but her words were increasingly becoming softer. Finally the sound seemed to drown out all together, even though her mouth was still moving and directed towards him. He rested his head back, and noticed that his vision was darkening as well.

He had let her down. He had stupidly run in the mansion without checking for any type of self-activating explosives. He should have known better. That had to be the reason they had cleaned the place with bleach. They knew the X-Men had a member with keen senses, and they were trying to mask the bomb. Shaw knew that this would be the first place that they would run to, and Remy stupidly had taken the bait. For the first time in his life he prayed. He prayed that even if he died, she would return home safe.

He looked up behind his heavy lids and saw the look on Wolverines face. The old bastard was actually concerned for him. If he made it through this, he would make sure that Logan never heard the end of it He suddenly felt content. He knew that they would never stop searching for Rogue, with or without him.

He finally gave in and let the darkness surround him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She slowly opened her eyes. From the weight of them, it felt like she had been knocked out for some time.

She slowly sat up, and thought her brain was going to explode. She knew it was fruitless, but she tried to heal herself. She wasn't surprised when she discovered that she couldn't use her powers.

She huffed to herself as she took in her surroundings. She wasn't expecting what she saw.

The walls were painted a pretty shade of green, and she was lying in a large bed with frilly décor. There was also a window, but it was heavily barred with thick steel. It reminded her of windows from an old insane asylum. She raised herself from the bed, and was a little relieved to find that she was still clothed in her pajamas.

She went over to the window to see if there was anyway possible way for her to escape. She opened the window, and gave the exterior bars a hard pull. She wasn't surprised when they didn't budge. She knew that without her strength it was useless to try. She glanced out in the distance, and thought she could see the shore.

The damn bastard probably shot her up with the inhibitor serum. She quickly remembered that Kara had played her own little part in her abduction. She felt the anger flow throughout her body, and swore that if she ever got out of here alive, she would teach that crazy bitch a lesson that she would never forget.

She turned around from the window to see if there were any other options she could come up with to escape. She noticed that her room was equipped with a bathroom and a small sitting area, but other than that there wasn't much else to it. She sighed in frustration as she sat back down on the bed. She noticed a very small device in the corner, and saw that it was a camera. She smiled sweetly towards it, and raised her middle finger in its direction.

It wasn't long before she heard the handle being turned. She quickly stood and got into a defensive stance. She may not have her powers, but that didn't mean that she couldn't put up a good fight. She was thankful that Wolverine had trained them to fight without relying on their abilities.

She was surprised when a sweet looking older lady entered the room. "There's no need for violence dear. I'm just here to check your vitals."

Rogue cautiously backed away from the older woman as she came near. The grey haired lady gave her a sad smile. "I'm not going to hurt you honey, I'm just the doctor."

Rogue remained silent as the other woman came and placed a stethoscope up to her back. She then reached down to her wrist, and looked at her watch as she took her pulse. "Everything looks normal. You'll be up and running in no time."

"Where am I?"

"Trask Island."

"We're on an island?"

"Yes. A very large one."

"Why are you helping him?" Rogue didn't have time to beat around the bush. She decided to get right to the point.

The older woman gave her a sad look. "Not everyone on this island is here against their will. After Genosha was burned to the ground, many of its inhabitants had nowhere to go. This is the only place that they could escape to."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "So Shaw couldn't even come up with an idea of his own?"

"Mr. Shaw didn't create the island. Trask enterprises did."

Now that surprised her. Why would a group of mutant haters create a haven for mutants? It didn't make any sense. "Why would they offer a place like this?"

"To weed out the mutants and the carriers. They are paying another Doctor to experiment with ways of extracting the X-Gene permanently."

This really surprised her. She knew that the doctor the other lady was referring to had to be Sinister. "Like a cure?"

"Yes. Only it is mandatory that all mutants receive it. It is still in the works, and that is why they haven't requested that all mutants move here just yet."

Rogue snorted to herself. "Requested? That's a joke. More liked forced. Are you a mutant?"

"I am."

"Than how can you work for them?"

"I'm not a threat to them. I'm a healer; there for I was placed as the resident Doctor. I figured the least I could do was make sure that everyone was okay. You shouldn't be so quick to judge others, dear. It's a bad characteristic of a young lady."

Rogue decided to continue her investigation. The older woman seemed nice enough, and she needed all the help that she could get. "Can I leave this room?"

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, but you are in Mr. Shaw's home and that is out of the question."

"What is his role in all of this?"

"He is our leader."

Of course he was, that was most likely what the documents were discussing. Anther thought came to her mind. "I know for a fact that he would not willingly give up his mutation."

The older woman glanced around and lowered her voice. "You shouldn't be so inquisitive. That can get you in trouble around here."

Rogue thought out loud. "He has protection. They are going to let him keep his powers so he can control our population."

Again, the older woman gave her a disapproving look, but answered her. "Yes."

"So he has non mutants here too? Just carriers? Why would they have to take the cure?"

The other woman glanced around and again lowered her voice. "Because, they could breed and potentially produce a pure mutant. They are eliminating the X- Gene completely. It will no longer exist."

The revelation frightened her. They would make sure that mutants would no longer exist. "What's your name?"

"Dr. Hummel, but you may call me Lorraine if you wish."

"Well Doc, I was taken here against my will, and I have people that will be looking for me. Once they find me, they aren't going to be too happy. They will most likely try to figure out how to evacuate this place so they can destroy it."

Deep down inside she knew that Remy was looking for her, and she knew he would go to the end of the earth for her. It was stupid that she hadn't known this before, and it took a situation like this for her to actually see it.

Dr. Hummel again lowered her voice. "I pray that's true, but for now don't fight them. They will make your life hell if you do."

"Fight who?"

"The Neutras. Clones created by the Doctor. They are the security on this island. Besides being extremely aggressive, they were also created to inhibit mutant powers, just in case."

"So not all the mutants here are without their powers?"

"The ones that came here willingly still have theirs intact, but once a permanent cure is discovered we all will be treated."

"So why can't I just be kept with everyone else that has to be inhibited?"

The older lady looked slightly uncomfortable. "Mr. Shaw has a certain amount of ladies that he keeps close for his personal…uses."

Rogue quickly stood from the bed. "You mean…"

She didn't need to finish her question. She could already see the answer written on the older woman's face.

"He will treat you well if you don't fight him."

Rogue laughed sardonically. "No offense, but you don't know our history. I don't see him making things easy for me."

The Doctor stood up and rested her hand on Rogue's shoulder. "I hope that's not true." She then turned to leave the room. "You have limited internet access on the tablet on the table. You can order things like food or necessities to be delivered to you as long as it is approved. We all have to dress in uniform and that will be delivered to you shortly. Yours may be…slightly altered." She turned to her a final time before she left. "I hope that your friends do find you dear." She closed the door behind her.

Rogue began to pace. She had to get out of here. There was no way in hell that she would sit around and just wait for that monster to come to her and…she cringed at the thought.

She turned the door handle, and knew that it was locked. It too was made of thick steel, but that didn't stop her from throwing her shoulder against it a few times.

She went over to the computer tablet and pulled up the limited internet. She wished she were technologically advanced like Kitty. That way she could maybe at least hack the guarded internet and attempt to contact the outside world.

Her heart stilled when she heard heavy footsteps heading towards her door. She became even more concerned as they stopped right outside of it. She backed away to the furthest area of her little living quarters. When the door swung open, her heart stopped altogether. It was Shaw, and he had a menacing look on his sharp features. She knew that his visit wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Ah, so you have finally awakened my little rose."

She remained silent.

"No words for your King?"

"Yeah… what the hell do you want?"

There was a flash of white, and another person backhanded her. She picked herself up off of the floor, and felt blood trickling from her nose. The person that had hit her, if you could even call it a person, was terrifying. Although she could tell that it was male, it really was odd looking. Ghost white skin, white eyes, and white hair. She knew that this must be one of the Nuetras that the Doctor was talking about.

"You will not disrespect the King, you filth!" Well he could talk well enough.

He moved in to attack again, and Shaw raised his hand. The Nuetra ceased his actions and obediently stood besides him. "That will do. I don't want her badly damaged. At least not yet."

His voice sent an unpleasant chill down her spine.

"I have no doubt that Dr. Hummel informed you of why you are here. You are here for a purpose, and if you don't fight it, you will actually find it very pleasant."

She glowered at him. "You are stupid if you think that Trask isn't going to make you get the cure too."

He raised his eyebrows at her remark. "If they try, I shall kill them. Don't you worry about my affairs my dear. They need me. And our little agreement is still on the table. If I offer you my protection, you can't be cured or harmed. You are a rare type of mutant, and you will be very powerful if you ruled by my side."

She spit in his direction, and it landed on his expensive looking suite. The Nuetra at his side attempted to move, but again Shaw spoke. "Its okay Egen."

He calmly took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed at the new wet spot on his shirt. "You have a strong will. An admirable trait under different circumstances if I may say so, but not here. I had a mare like you once. She had a strong temper and fire within her. But even the strongest will can be broken."

He turned to exit the room. "I think your bad temper will be extracted in a week or so. Kara will be visiting you later this evening. I hear you two have a lot of catching up to do."

Rogue glowered and spoke up. "They will come for me! And when they do, I'm going to kill you."

He chuckled in her direction. "Your little X-Men? Of course they will. I'm counting on it my little rose. Miss Frost and I have some catching up of our own to do. I don't take betrayals lightly. And you know well enough that you cannot harm me."

He opened the heavy door. Rogue thought for a moment about bolting out of it, but decided against it. Shaw's little guard dog, Egen or whatever his name was, looked like he was itching to attack. She decided that she would wait for another opportunity.

"Come Egen. Let Ms. Rogue get her rest. She has a long night ahead of her."

The pale man reluctantly obeyed, and they were out of her sight just as quick as they had entered.

It was only a few moments before the door opened, and another Nuetra threw in a package. She noticed that all of them must look the same since they were clones.

She cautiously opened the package, and was immediately disgusted by the contents. Inside was a flimsy looking corset, along with fishnet stockings and thigh high boots. It appeared that her uniform was much different than the others'. She thought back and realize that Emma had warn an outfit similar to this one. She wondered if she had been subjected to the same arrangement.

Once again, the door was opened, and three Nuetras stood at the entrance. "Come here filth." So that one must be Egen. The only reason she could tell was because his hair was longer than the others' and he was dressed a little differently. It must have been one of the little perks for being Shaw's number one lackey.

She refused to move, and he swiftly entered and dragged her by her hair to the door. "You will obey."

He quickly lifted her up by her hair, and placed her hands in a device that looked similar to handcuffs.

She took the opportunity to take in her surroundings, and catalogue any possible escape routes for future references.

Any thoughts of her own escape quickly diminished when she saw the security that was absolutely fucking everywhere. Since they were in Shaw's personal mansion, it seemed that things were probably even more guarded. They went through a series of checkpoints, until they reached a very large room. There was no furniture, and the walls were painted a boring shade of white. However, she did notice the many bloodstains on the ground. She also noticed that there were splatters here and there on the wall. The room itself was massive. The only thing she could compare it to was her high school gymnasium.

The man now known as Egen, roughly removed the restraints from her wrists. He gave her an evil stare before taking his leave. As soon as he shut the door, she ran towards it and pushed and pulled, but it was no use.

She slowly turned around. She had an uneasy feeling about this place.

She noticed a small movement out of the corner of her eye, and discovered that it was a tiny mouse making its way towards her. It didn't seem to be scared of her at all, which was weird. The mouse finally came within five feet of her, and began to shift.

She should have known that it was Kara. She was showing off apparently.

The raven haired women looked at her and cocked her head to the side. "You never should have taken him away from me."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "I didn't take him away from you. He used you Kara! He would of left you if I was there or not."

"That's debatable. He loved me well enough before you came into the picture."

As she spoke, she proceeded to take out a large knife and began to flash it around. "I should have made sure you were dead when I had the chance."

Rogue raised her fist in a fighting stance. "You should of. Now you cant kill me even if you wanted to."

Kara flashed a wicked smile. "You're right. I have been ordered not to kill you, but once I'm through with you you'll beg me to finish you off."

Rogue was uneasy and yet surprised when Kara placed the knife back into its hiding place.

Kara again spoke. "Don't be surprised. I'm a shifter. I am going to slice you up as much as I can a different way."

Kara began to shift into her favorite large cat.

Rogue knew that there was no possible way that she could fight her while she was a four hundred pound tiger, but she would do all that she could.

The tiger crouched low, and Rogue saw its shoulders move in a predatory fashion.

She didn't even have time to brace herself when she was attacked.

As Kara's claws and razor sharp teeth pierced her flesh, she prayed that her team would find her soon…that _he _would find her soon.

Her body felt like it was being ripped to pieces, and she soon lost consciousness.

**To be continued…**


	18. So Long

**A/N: Hello! I'm alive! As some of you are already aware, I go to school, and on top of that I recently moved and got a new job, so my little story was placed on hold for a moment. Well everything is good to go now, so the normal updates will continue! Sorry to make you wait so long :( ****. I also apologize that this chapter isn't as long as my usual, but that is because there was too much going on, and to jam pack it all into one chapter would have been a little messy. I will have the next chapter up soon though, so don't worry! Well, enjoy!**

**WARNING: This chapter does contain some uncomfortable sexual situations. If you are squeamish, you might want to skip this one. Honestly though, you know how I write, and this is definitely and adult fic, so you should know what to expect from me by know :)**

**Chapter 18**

**So Long**

It had nearly been four months.

Almost four long, agonizing months.

She was surprised that she was even sane enough to comprehend the dates.

The sad thing was that she was actually becoming used to her little imprisonment.

The first month was the worst. Just like clockwork, every evening the Nuetra known as Egen, would escort her to have her pleasant "meetings" with Kara. She had fought fairly well, but was no match for the smaller woman when she was in animal form.

It was horrible. In Kara's twisted, messed up mind she was getting retribution.

It was the same horrible routine. Rogue would get badly injured, and then Dr. Hummel would come along and heal her up, right as rain.

There were times when she wished the doctor wouldn't show up. That she would just let her die, and just put her out of her misery.

But damn that prompt woman! She would show up, with a look of sympathy on her aged features, and patch her right up with her own mutation. Rogue knew that the older woman had good intentions, but she hated her for them.

The only thing that kept her sane was the thought of her rescue. It was the only sliver of hope that she had left. She only had to envision his crimson eyes, and that thought would somehow make everything better.

She knew what happened to the people that lost hope in this place. They became lost souls, and she was determined not to join that specific crowd, although at times it did seem rather tempting.

Then a weird, fucked up twist of fate intervened.

In one of their little "sessions", Kara had left her to the point where she was almost un-repairable.

That dreaded evening Doctor Hummel apparently decided to grow a pair. She healed her, for what seemed like the millionth time, and spoke up.

"This can't go on any longer. You'll be dead before the week is through. If your body doesn't go first, your mind will. To be frank, I'm surprised you lasted this long. You are truly a strong, young lady."

All Rogue could do was gaze in the older woman's direction. "Finally found your conscious Doc? Better late than never, I suppose."

The Doctor decided to ignore Rogue's snappy comment, and hurriedly picked up her medical equipment. "I have always cared for your well being my dear. There wasn't much I could do in my position. But this punishment has gone on long enough. I'll see what I can do."

She exited the room, and Rogue heard the loud "click" of the metal door encasing her in her prison.

She huffed to herself and slowly raised herself from the bed. Just because she was healed didn't mean that she wasn't sore.

She slowly made her way to the small shower, and turned on the taps to a nice warm temperature.

She disrobed and stepped inside, tilting her head back, allowing the spray of water to surround her face. This was the only luxury she was allowed to have. She may have a nice, comfy little room, but the place was hell on earth.

It was always the same. As she allowed her body to soak up the water, her thoughts would drift to her teammates. She often wondered what they were doing at that exact moment. Were they still searching for her? Or had they just given up?

There were times when she was angry, just plan _enraged_ that they hadn't found her yet. That _he _hadn't come yet.

_But than again, it's my own damn fault._

She shouldn't have been so careless when she saw Kara that night. She knew that the woman was a certified psycho. Shaw was even smart enough to bring along his little lackey Nuetra that fateful night. The creature's powers inhibited her own, and he was able to shoot her up with that crap and knock her out.

She shook the awful memory from her head and turned the water off. She stepped out, and grabbed a towel and began to fluff herself dry. She then looked in the direction of the small set of drawers by her bed, and cringed. She was belittled in every possible way in this place. She had to wear the ridiculous corset attire during the days, and the only sleepwear she was provided was lingerie nighties.

She wished she could burn them all.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Time slowly began to creep by.

The second month was even worse than the first, in its own twisted way.

The Doctor must have pulled quite a card with Shaw, because Rogue no longer received visits from the Nuetra, whom escorted her down to her own personal hades.

Instead, a whole different type of nightmare began.

It started one evening, when she was called out of her room unexpectedly. She was led through a chamber that she didn't recognize, and placed in a separate room all together.

The moment she entered, she knew what her horrible fate would be.

The room was dark in color, and the light was very dim. There was a large bed in the center, and attached to the headboard were handcuffs, along with other random sexual oddities.

She could deal with being beaten to the point of death, but not this. Anything but this!

Her mind instantly flashed to the one night of passion she shared with Remy. It was her first, and only time making love, and she had planned on doing it again with him.

If Shaw touched her, she would be tainted, filthy. She could never allow Remy to be with her after that.

She had kept it together up until this point. She frantically paced the room, and attempted to find something, _anything_ to help her escape.

She was searching though the small nightstand by the bed, when she heard the familiar click of the door.

She held her breath as she turned around to face the man that would ruin her.

To her confusion and relief, it wasn't whom she expected to see.

A blonde woman, whom she had never seen before, made her way into the room. She didn't look like she was being forced, and she strutted her way across the room as if she had done it a million times.

Rogue couldn't help but blush and feel uncomfortable at the woman's attire. She had on a very lacey, very see through bra with matching panties, and she definitely wasn't lacking in the "sex appeal" department.

The woman headed over to a dressing table, and plopped down on the seat. She attempted to primp as she stared at her own reflection.

Rogue was more than confused at this point.

The woman stared at her in the reflection. "Haven't seen you before. You new?"

Rogue had to remember to breathe. She quickly mumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about…"

The other woman slowly turned in her direction. She looked her up and down. Then a slow smile appeared on her face, and she almost looked angelic. "You're a looker. You must be getting' top dollar. What's he payin' ya? "

Rogue realized immediately what was going on. The woman in front of her was hired to satisfy Shaw's other "needs".

Rogue uncomfortably looked in a different direction. "I'm here against my will. I would rather die than lay with him."

The blonde raised an eyebrow in her direction. "You're not willing?"

"NO!"

She didn't know why, but at that moment tears began to swell within her eyes.

The blonde woman almost looked sympathetic. "He hasn't had an unwilling partner for some time now. It ain't that bad. You might actually enjoy it."

"That's impossible."

The blonde woman shrugged her shoulders and turned back towards the mirror. "If you say so. My name's Tanya by the way. What's yours?"

Rogue didn't feel like exchanging small pleasantries with the woman in front of her, so she remained silent.

The blonde again shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, I'm all for the anonymous type, but I would like to know your name since we will be in the same bed together."

Rogue froze. She knew that the woman was in here for the same reason she was, but it finally dawned on her why there was _two _of them.

Then she heard the worst sound that she could possibly hear. The sound of the door click…

**XXXXXXXXXX**

That was how the whole second month went. But, she never gave in. She never allowed him to violate her. She fought and scratched and bit, and it seemed he never made her submit to him.

But it was still horrible. Every night she was beckoned, and every night she thought that would be the night that he would abuse her…rape her.

But it never came. Apparently, he liked the willing participants that were paid for their services, but he would never let her leave.

No, instead he got off having her in the room when he did those things to those women.

She hated it. She hated his grunts and the noises they would make. The smell that filled the room was enough to make her sick.

The worst time was when he forced her to participate in a different way.

He had chained her up, and she was certain that tonight was going to be the night she was dreading. She braced herself for the worst. And was oddly confused when it wasn't him that approached her.

The pretty blonde started placing kisses on her face, and placed one delicate kiss on her mouth.

Rogue crammed her lips shut. She knew he was trying to humiliate her, and she hated to admit it, but it was working.

She attempted to struggle as the woman kissed a trail down her chest, but it was useless. She refused to let him see her act so weak.

That night the woman's mouth was placed on the most sensitive spot on her being, and she hated herself.

She hated herself for letting him hear a hitch in her breath.

She hated herself for even showing the slightest sign that she reacted to his little head-game.

She tried to keep her composure, but she felt herself unwillingly building up to the expected.

As she orgasmed, she cried for the first time since she had been prisoner.

She cried for herself. She cried for Remy. She was only supposed to do that for him. Only him. And she betrayed him in the worst way.

She turned and looked at the monster that was steadily watching them. He had an evil sneer on his face, and at that moment she knew he had planned this all along.

Just as he promised, he was breaking her.

After that incident, he had informed her that he would not be relying on her services any longer for the moment.

He had won, and he knew it.

He lead her to her room, which was something that he had never done before.

Before he locked her in, he informed her that he "made sure that she was no longer a concern to the X-Men, and that she would never leave this place. She would submit to him, and she _would_ obey."

She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by it, but that last thing she was going to do was question him.

After that, he pretty much left her to her own devices. Although, she was occasionally visited by Sinister for "specimen samples". She thanked God that he wasn't as interested in her as Shaw was. It wasn't pleasant, but she would rather be experimented on than sexually abused.

She knew she was slowly losing it. Her hope of rescue became dimmer and dimmer as the days passed. That's when her psyches started to act up.

She no longer possessed the strength to keep them locked. He had caused new mental damage, and it was as if the psyches knew it.

Occasionally, it would be someone that she loved or missed, like Kitty or Logan. The sound of them made her cry, and she thought her mutation was cruel for giving her false hope. The Nuetras and inhibitor serum stopped her mutation from working, but they couldn't prevent all the static from all the different people she had absorbed in the past from acting up.

Ironically the one psych she longed to hear never showed up.

She felt abandoned.

She knew he was probably upset about the "incident", and she became desperate for his sarcastic, yet cool composure.

Then one day, it finally hit her. They were never going to find her. How could they? She didn't even know where she was, how could she expect them to know?

She would never be able to tell him that she loved him again.

The thought was too much.

She once again felt the familiar pang of heartache swell within her chest.

She didn't want to fight it any longer.

She felt herself drifting off into a peaceful darkness as the stronger psyches fought for control of her mind…

**XXXXXXXXXX**

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

Damn his head hurt. Did he drink last night? He reached out to turn his alarm cock off, but his arm wouldn't work properly.

_Beep._

_Beep._

_Beep._

He slowly tried to open his eyes, and noticed that it took awhile for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. His lids were so heavy, that he had to take a break.

_What the hell did I drink last night?_

He opened them again, and was confused at the small machine next to his bed. It had a series of numbers and lines on it.

He quickly put two and two together, and he didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know that he was in the med-bay, but why?

He slowly turned his head, and noticed the small brunette asleep in the chair next to the bed.

Why was Kitty here? Where was Rogue?

He attempted to sit up, and found that his body didn't seem to want to cooperate. He wondered how long he had been out.

At the sound of movement, Kitty opened her eyes. For the first time in three months, Gambit was conscious.

She smiled warmly at him, and scooted closer, taking his hand in hers.  
>"Hey. How are ya feeling?"<p>

Remy looked at her with a dazed expression on his face.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"No…where is Rogue?"

Kitty tried to hide her look of worry. "I think I should get the Professor. He can answer your questions better than I can."

She quickly left the room, and after much effort, Remy finally sat himself up in his bed. He then started to take out the numerous tubes and needles that were stuck in his body. He was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I'm glad you have rejoined us Mr. LeBeau. You gave us all a bit of a scare."

Remy raised his hand to his head. "I…I cant remember."

"That's an expected side effect, since you were in a induced coma. I can help you with that. First, let me explain what happened to you. You must do your best to try to stay calm. After I am done, I will attempt to help you regain your memory, with your permission of course."

Remy hesitantly nodded his head.

"You were in a bombing accident while on a mission with Jean and Logan. You almost didn't make it, but thank to your mutation, you heal a bit faster than the normal homo sapien, or even mutant for that matter. We had to put you in an induced coma for you to heal properly. Among many broken bones, you also had a pierced lung and quite the skull fracture. Amazingly, your body has repaired itself quite nicely."

Remy just stared at the man in front of him. He knew he was telling him the truth, but why couldn't he remember any of it?

"What kind of mission were we on?"

The professors' look changed. "I'm sure once I tell you why, your memories will trigger. Promise me that you won't do anything brash just yet."

The way the professor was speaking had him worried. "Tell me."

"You were trying to find a lead to the where abouts of Rogue."

As soon as the words left the older mans mouth, a rush of memories surged within his mind.

He remembered everything. Her kidnap, the mansion, the bomb...everything.

He quickly threw the sheets back, and swung the lower half of his body off of the bed. He placed his bare feet on the cold tile floors, and immediately fell.

"Gambit! You must be careful! Your limbs haven't been used in almost three months!"

The professor's words registered in his brain. He had been out for three months? His only concern was her. Surely, they must have found out something by now.

He slowly raised himself from the floor, and carefully planted his feet to hold him steady, while leaning on a near chair for support.

"Where is she? Is she here? Is she okay?"

The professor's features saddened, but he remained silent.

Remy immediately felt his heart sink within his chest. Something was wrong. Something was very, _very _wrong.

He lost his composure. He grabbed the professor by his collar, and almost lifted the man from his wheelchair. "WHERE IS SHE?"

At that moment, Wolverine rushed through the doors, shoving Remy back and causing him to stumble. "What the hell is wrong with you Gumbo?"

Remy didn't have time for games. "Where is she Logan? Where is she?"

The gruff man could hear the desperation in his voice, and slowly retracted his claws.

He just shook his head and turned away from him.

It was at this exact moment that Remy expected the worst. He had never seen Wolverine upset about anything, and at the mention of Rogue's name, he actually looked like he was going to cry.

The professor slowly wheeled his way to him.

"About a month after her disappearance, Rogue's communicator suddenly became active again. This meant that we had the capabilities to finally locate her."

Gambit already knew where this was headed. He shook his head, begging the professor to stop. He didn't want to hear the rest, but the professor continued.

"We tracked it to a wooded area in the Midwest, and we found her. She….she was…" The professor could barely seem to get the words out, but he continued. "She was deceased."

**To be continued...**

**Don't hurt me just yet! You know I have something up my sleeve :)**

**Please review, and tell me what you think. I love love_ LOVE_ the feedback!**


	19. Located

**A/N: Okay, I want to post chapters quicker, so they may be a tad shorter in length, but I plan on posting more often. So it will pretty much even out. :) As always, I appreciate the reviews and the feedback. Keep em' coming! I'm new at this, and I want to make sure you guys enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it. With that being said, if you do have something extremely negative and mean to say, please have the courtesy to use your name and message me privately so we can discuss it.**

"**Why is amsanch saying this?" do you ask? Well let me tell ya!**

**I thought I would share with you all this pleasant little review I got on chapter 1! The veeeeeeery first chapter. It just had me tickled. The person chose to remain anonymous; otherwise I would get back with them. It went a little something like this…**

_**Guest review: "Keepyourstupid Romy stories to the actual comicverse. These storiesdon't make a god damn lick of sense in the XME universe. Gambit treated Rogue like shit andkidnapped and abused herin this universe. Couldn'teven bring myself to finishthe firstchapter. So out of place in the XME universe."**_

**So I thought I would address this guest reader! Oh, where to begin…**

**1. In the English language we space our words apart.**

**2. Apparently, you seem to know everything about the comics. So you are reading the ultimate X-Men apparently, and I have to say, many would have to disagree with you. Since you are the expert, I assume you know that there are numerous story arcs in the X-Men universe. In one Arc, Rogue and Gambit have kids, and then she is murdered. Should we base our stories off of that as well? Seems kind of hard to write a Romy without Rogue. I suggest reading uncanny X-Men (which used to just be titled "X-Men", and is the original). **

**3. So, you wanted to read a Romy about Gambit treating Rogue like shit? Kinda weird, don't ya think? And while we are on the topic, you say that Gambit treats Rogue like "shit". Leaving Gambit in Antarctica wasn't exactly sweet of Rogue...I'm just saying.**

**4. You are on a website called **_**fanfiction**__**—**_**enough said.**

**5. My story is categorized under "X-Men evolution" last time I checked. And I clearly stated that it would be my own creation.**

**6. Finally, that seems pretty disrespectful to ROMY fans. DON'T EVER TEST OR DOUBT MY ROMY KNOWLEDGE!**

**Whew, okay I'm done. I just needed to vent a little bit. :)**

**Well enough with the negative! Thanks for sticking with me guys! I heart you all! *****Muah*******

**Chapter 19**

**Located**

He instantly felt his legs give way from underneath him, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he had been comatose for three months.

He fell to his knees, and stared up at the Professor. "No…."

The Professor slowly wheeled over to the fallen man, and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Remy, we did everything we could to try to find her before…"

Remy quickly moved his shoulder away from the older man's tender touch. He felt full of despair, but couldn't deny the feeling of rage that was beginning to swell within his soul. He spat in the Professor's direction. "Well you didn't try fucking hard enough! You let her die! All of you!"

Wolverine's hairs seemed to bristle like a rabid, wild animal when those words escaped the Cajun's mouth. He rush forward and pinned him against the nearest wall. "You think we just sat around? Is that what you think bub? While you were taking your little nap, we were busting our ASSES trying to find that girl! She was like a daughter to me!"

Gambit looked away from the feral mans stare. He didn't want him to see the tears that were starting to swell within his eyes. A thought abruptly occurred to him.

Suddenly, to the surprise of both of the other men, he straightened up and brushed a stray hair out of his eyes. "It wasn't her. I know it wasn't her."

Logan and the Professor shared a worried glance. The Professor spoke to him gently, as if he was afraid the other man's fragile state had made him lose his mind completely. "Gambit, we all identified the body-"

Remy cut him off before he could finish. "Where is Emma?"

The professor gave him an odd look. "She is in her room, although I don't understand what that has to do with anything."

"She said that Shaw would never harm her. And he has a man with cloning capabilities working for him. He is trying to throw us off the track. How could you guys not even think of that?"

Logan spoke next. "Cajun, it was her. We just have to accept it. She was found a week after her disappearance. That wouldn't be enough time to clone a damn thing!"

Remy shook his head, and on unsteady legs, made his way towards the doors.

The professor looked concerned. "Gambit, you need to rest!"

He ignored the older mans plea. He had a certain blonde telepath to speak with.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Moments later, he found himself in Emma's room. She sat across from him, her now swollen belly cupped beneath her hands.

"I didn't believe it for a moment either. I know Shaw more than anybody, and I know for a fact he would not kill her. Teach her a lesson; yes, but never kill her. She is too precious to him. It's border line obsessive."

Remy swiftly stood, and began to pace the room. "And you can't think of one place that he would hide her?"

Emma followed his movements with her eyes as he paced back and forth. "I have checked everything out. Nothing has turned up."

He ran his hand through his hair, frustrated that they still had no lead. A doubt began to creep in the back of his mind, making him begin to think that maybe there _was_ the possibility that his love was murdered. He quickly shook the thought out of his head. He wouldn't allow that idea to ever enter his mind ever again. She _was_ alive, and he would find her, no matter what it took.

"So, we still have no starting point…" he was thinking out loud as a plan started to formulate in his head. He quickly came to the conclusion that it would take more than the X-Men to find her.

"I have an idea." He quickly turned to leave the room, not paying too much attention as Emma called out after him. "Where are you going?"

"To make a phone call!"

Emma huffed to herself, and lay back on her bed. She smirked to herself. "It's about time that fool woke up. He is the only way things will get done around here."

She then groaned, because she realized she had to pee, for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day. She tenderly rubbed her stomach, and felt the familiar flutters of her baby moving about within her. "Listen up little girl, you better settle down! It's late, and mommy needs to get some sleep."

She smiled at herself. She never thought in a million years that she would be the motherly type, but she found the idea growing on her as much as her swollen belly.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He found his cell phone in the pocket of his signature brown duster, which was exactly where he had left it. The article of clothing had seen better days, but he couldn't seem to part ways with it.

He fished the small device out, and wasn't surprised to find that the battery was drained. He dug the charger out of his chest of drawers, and quickly plugged it into the phone. Patience had never been one of his best qualities, so he quickly checked the information he needed while the phone was beginning to charge. He skimmed through the voicemails trying to locate the number that he needed. However, this was easier said than done, since there were quite a few unheard messages. They were mostly from his father and brother checking in on him. They weren't the type to worry, but they must have felt slightly flustered when they couldn't get ahold of him for almost three whole months.

Then he heard the voice of the person he was trying to locate. After the message was left, he quickly pressed the number necessary to obtain the callers phone information. He grabbed a near pen, and jotted down the information as the automated lady repeated the numbers. He then hung up the phone, and proceeded to enter the numbers on the keypad.

He held his breath as the phone rang one time. He knew that the person on the other end wouldn't exactly be happy to hear from him.

After the third ring, a voice finally answered on the other line. "_Bonjour?_"

He decided to cut right to the chase. "Belle, I need your help."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She was finding it harder and harder to remain patient in this place. The body she was in was nice, but almost completely useless.

She knew it was only a matter of time before the woman known as "Rogue" let her take control. She knew that Rogue hadn't meant to kill her, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still pissed about it.

Especially now, since the girl had basically given up. So, she saw the opportunity to take control, and so she did. She knew that she would eventually have to give her new vessel up, but not at the moment. They had been in this shit hole a little too long for her liking.

At least those creeps were leaving them alone now. She probably wanted to kill Shaw just as much as the girl did. She would get even with that bastard, or she wasn't Ms. Marvel!

Every time she heard the door click, she would crouch behind the other side, waiting to assassinate whomever stepped out from behind it. Unfortunately, they would just slide the food tray in through the small slot, and be on their merry way.

She was mad at the girl, whose body she was currently residing in. The pathetic thing had almost stopped eating completely. She should have been smarter than that. She would need every ounce of strength for what she had planned. She ate the food off of the tray at a rapid pace. They would definitely need their strength for what she was planning.

She knew that it would only be a matter of time before someone entered the room, and this time they would be ready.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As he was listening to the ranting of the blonde woman in front of him, he would have to remind himself what he was here for in the first place.

Bella Donna wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of helping him locate Rogue. For one, she knew that he harbored feelings for her, and two, the last encounter she had with the woman hadn't exactly been pleasant. Plus, she was enraged at the fact that Remy had fooled her into believing that he didn't care for the bitch.

The only thing that had finally convinced her was the amount of money he had offered. Besides, all she had to do was find the where abouts of this man, Sebastian Shaw. She was a people hunter, but this would be the first time she literally didn't "hunt" the person she located.

But one thing was pissing her off. The amount of time he was giving her was almost impossible. She was good, but she didn't know if she was that good.

"And what the hell am I supposed to do? Just pull the information out of my ass?"

Remy was quickly becoming annoyed with his ex-wife's attitude. "Bella, I don't give a fuck how you get the information. Just get it."

She didn't like the tone of his voice. "I don't have to do this, you know."

He raised an eyebrow in her direction. "Then don't. I'll find someone else willing to take my money."

She gritted her teeth. The assassins hadn't exactly been profiting well since their numbers were slowly dwindling down. "Fine. I'll see what I can do. Get back with me in a week."

Remy stood up and made his way towards her door. "I'll be back in two days max."

She huffed at his response. "How the fuck do you expect me to find out anything in two days?"

He smirked in her direction before he closed the door. "You're a smart woman, I'm sure you can figure it out. You seemed to keep track of the woman I had relations with while I was with you. Funny how they stopped calling after a while." And with that, he closed the door behind him.

She had to resist the urge to stomp her foot. Her guild could use the money, but deep inside she felt like she owed him. He was banished because of her family, and she wasn't the type to owe a debt.

She quickly got to business.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

He had visited with his family for the two days, and due to the current situation, the reunion didn't seem to mean that much to him. Yeah, he had missed them, but he couldn't possibly feel joyous at the moment.

He looked at the clock, and decided that he would make his way back over to Bella's house. As he mounted his motorcycle, he felt his phone vibrate within his pocket. He was shocked to see that Bella Donna was calling him first. He put the phone to his ear. "What did you find out?"

"No Hello? You know I could withhold this information. How about I give it to you after we fuck, just like old times?"

The idea of sleeping with her actually made him want to vomit. "Tell me what you found!"

"I'll see you when you get here _chèr_!" She quickly hung up the phone before he could get another word in.

He raced over to her house, and practically kicked the door in when he entered. He didn't have time for her petty little games.

When he entered, she called to him from the bedroom. He already knew where this was going. As he entered her room, her attempt to seduce him was almost pathetic.

She lay naked on the bed; her blonde locks flowing around her.

Remy had never thought her unattractive; as a matter of fact when it came to her looks he thought quite the opposite. No, what made her ugly was what she was like on the inside. She was selfish and conceded, and loved causing pain onto others.

He looked away from her as he entered. "Put your clothes back on."

She let out a sultry laugh, and raised herself from the bed. She made her way over to him, and pressed her bare chest against his. "Don't act like you don't like what you see _chèr. _This is just business. I have what you want, and you have what I want. "

"I'm already paying you for your services. "

She tilted her head to the side and pretended to think. "Hmm, well I changed my mind. I want the money, and for tonight, I want you."

He narrowed his eyes in her direction. "You sound like a cheap whore."

At his statement, she narrowed her eyes back at him. "You'll give me what I want, or I wont tell you where your little slut is at!"

He was never the type to put his hands on a woman, but at those words he lost it. He grabbed her throat in her naked form, and pinned her against the nearest wall. "WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?"

She grabbed at his wrist, and to his surprise, she managed to gurgle out a laugh. "Kill me, and you'll never know where your precious Rogue is."

He knew she was right, and he hated her for it. He released his grip, and she inhaled sharply. She quickly regained her composure and strutted back over to him. "This will be enjoyable for the both of us…"

He would do whatever it took to find Rogue, and Shaw for that matter. He definitely would make sure the man suffered. He remained motionless as she began to place a trail of kissed down his chest.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He soon left the house with the information that he needed. He didn't know how she obtained the information, but he didn't really care at the moment. His main concern was getting back to the mansion as quick as possible. It turned out that while the X-Men didn't seem to have a damn clue about what was going on, the Brotherhood sure as hell did. Turned out they had already found out about the little island of mutants.

Remy didn't exactly agree with Magneto's methods, but it seemed that they both agreed about one thing. Forcing all mutants to take the cure, and wiping out the x-gene was just plain insanity. What was even crazier was the fact that Shaw thought he was going to rule a little kingdom. What he probably didn't know was that Trask planned on destroying the little island, by setting off a series of explosives.

He managed to make his way back in record time, and quickly got everyone up to speed.

During the explanation, the professor remained unusually quiet. Remy's patience was wearing thin. "We need to go there, now!"

"We will leave as soon as possible, but I do not want you to hold false hopes."

He was quickly becoming aggravated. "I would rather hold some type of hope, than none at all."

Warren quickly spoke up before the Professor could reply. "We need to go there to help evacuate the island."

The professor nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. I will contact Magnus."

The others looked at each other, confused. Scott spoke first. "Why would you do that?"

The older man simply replied, "Because, we will need all the help that we can get."

**To be continued…**

**Just so there isn't any confusion, Ms. Marvel's psyche took over :)**


	20. Found and Lost

**Don't shoot! *****raises hands in surrender***** Life has gotten pretty hectic, which caused me to take a little break in my story. My muse was like, "Screw this" and went on a long vacation. She just now came back. Sorry guys! **

**I have come to the sad realization that I started this story in Feb of 2012. Hopefully, it won't take me another year to complete it! I appreciate the reviews, and I will try to write as much as I can! There is still much to come, so hang around a bit!**

**Chapter 20**

**Found and Lost**

It was becoming quite bothersome that no one had entered their room yet. Day after day the only contact made at all were the trays of food that were lazily pushed through the small opening.

It was really beginning to piss her off.

She took over this body so she could take control of the situation, and the only thing that she had controlled so far was deciding what time to got to bed.

She knew something was up. Shaw and herself went way back, and she knew he wasn't the type to let things lay the way they were. She had to laugh at his pathetic attempts at always trying to control something. He always tried to act like the big head honcho. Personally, she thought that he was trying to make up for _smaller_ things.

She huffed and let her head rest against the headboard. She glanced in the mirror, and took in the reflection before her.

The girl was quite attractive. At first it had startled her to see another woman's reflection. But she was used to it now. It was almost pathetic how insecure and weak she was at times. Thanks to her, they were in this mess.

She should have been more aware of her surroundings. If she were, they wouldn't be in the current situation. She really had to learn to keep her guard up.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of footsteps coming closer to their room. She knew it would be a wasted attempt, but she crouched behind the door, as she always did when she heard someone approaching the room.

She knew something was different when the tray slot didn't immediately open. Her adrenaline began to course through the body she was inhibiting. She hadn't been in a good fight for quite some time, and she was ready.

She saw the steel knob turn and the door slowly opened. The figure that strutted in was not the person she expected it to be.

The man known as Sinister was truly a terrifying presence. He would give anybody in their right mind the creeps. She shook the thoughts out of her head, and quickly sprang out of her hiding spot.

However, before she was able to make contact, a force hit her with so much power that her breath was instantly knocked out of her and she quickly found herself on the floor. She looked up and saw the stupid smirk of a Nuetra.

She hated those damn things. She especially hated the one named Egen, who just so happened to be the one who just knocked the crap out of her. She would like to see how tough he was if she had her powers. She could decapitate him with the flick of her finger. Preferably her middle one.

The almost robotic voice of Sinister boomed throughout the room. "Do not hurt the specimen!"

The Nuetra bowed his head in shame, and heeled back to the other man like a lost mutt.

She decided to reply, and made sure to do her best impression of a southern accent. "Well ya'll are just rude as a uninvited guess durin' the holidays!"

The creepy man actually raised his eyebrow in her direction.

Okay, maybe she would have to tone down the fake accent for now.

He turned his body to her direction, and she noticed for the first time that he was carrying something in his arms. She couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness as his lips began to curl at the corner of his mouth. A smile on that man's face just looked plain wrong.

He took a step closer to her as he spoke. "Well Rogue, you will be happy to hear that I did it."

Ms. Marvel didn't have the slightest idea about what the hell the man talking about. She doubted that Rogue would have known either. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well since you asked so nicely, and you did actually play a big part, I guess I will let you be the first to know."

She was shocked when he held out his hands and the bundle began to move and produce the sounds hushed grunts.

She unconsciously took a step back. "What the hell is that?"

He ignored her question. "I am sure that you are aware by now that I wasn't just taking your DNA samples for my own research. No, you have helped me accomplish what we have been looking for. All I needed was your absorption ability to bring my experiment to life."

She couldn't take much more of this dramatic speech. The guy was a modern day Dr. Frankenstein.

He continued with his drawn out speech. "I have searched for decades for a mutant like yourself. However, you are a very rare find. To think, that one mere mutant can contain the unlimited power and abilities of all other mutants is astonishing."

The conversation was making her uncomfortable. After all, he was speaking to her as if she was Rogue. It made her realize her own insignificance, and she hated it.

Again, he continued. "I'm sure you are well aware by now that I am under the protection of not only Mr. Shaw, but also Trask. Well they gave me the near impossible task of coming up with a formula that removes the X-Gene completely from a person's system, mutant or homosapien alike. Well, I haven't discovered a formula for that, but I believe I have created something just as good. Your mutation really had me thinking. It really only had one downside. You could absorb powers, but you only hinder the other recipient unconscious. They would still have the use of their powers when they awoke. You're a petty thief at most"

Ms. Marvel let a sarcastic huff escape her lips. If he only realized that the girl could kill, and she would know. For a scientist, he really didn't realize how stupid he truly was.

He ignored her sound and continued. "It led me to believe that I could create a specimen even greater than yourself. And so I did!"

With his final exclamation, he held out his arms. He slowly removed the cover placed over the "thing" in his arms. She noticed that he wore a pair of thick gloves as he did so.

That was never a good sign.

Despite her best efforts, she gasped. The "thing" which he possessed was an infant Nuetra. It looked like it had slightly more color to it, but it was SEVERELY deformed. She had to place her hand over her mouth to keep everything in.

"How the hell could you mess with a living creature like that?"

He let out an evil laugh that chilled her to the bone. "This being is barely human. As you can tell, they are more on the level of a dumb, wild beast. Actually, you might be surprised to know that their power inhibiting capabilities come from one of your very own X-Men's relatives. I worked on him for months. He was just a normal human then, but I extracted and brought forth his X-Gene. To me, he was known as specimen 15683, but you may know him by his Christian name. Does the name Christian Frost ring a bell?"

She really hated this guy. She could feel Rogue's mind begin to churn and attempt to put things together. So that is why they had abducted Emma's brother. Personally, she couldn't care less. Emma was paying for the bad deeds that she had done in the past. But she could tell that Rogue's psych felt completely different.

The creeper in front of her continued. "So naturally, I created a specimen with the same power to guard this place. No mutant would be a threat due to his or her powers. So I decided to add your own mutation in the mix. This creature doesn't just absorb powers…he steals them permanently."

His statement began to seep in. That thing could take away one's mutation? She began to slowly back up.

He glared down at the being like a proud father. "Yes, he will take away any mutation that a mutant is born with. Including yours my dear."

She was increasingly becoming worried. She didn't know what his intentions were, but she doubted they were good.

He slowly began to approach her.

Her heart rate definitely had picked up. He was going to make her touch that thing!

He was mere inches from her, when a loud BOOM caused them all to fall to the floor.

She didn't know whether to be thankful or frightened when the ground beneath them shook from an explosion.

She could hear the fearful screams of the others on the island off in the distance.

She quickly looked up, and saw the best sight that she could have possibly seen at that moment. The door was knocked off of its hinges, and she was able to escape.

Before the other's had a chance to react, she bolted from the room.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They really were an odd looking bunch.

If the situation at hand wasn't so dire, it would almost be comical.

He glanced to his right where is fellow X-Men sat within the jet. Straight across sat the brotherhood, including Magneto himself.

The meeting of both groups, if it could have even been called that, was brief and to the point. Wolverine of course, ran his mouth, and Magneto was determined to shut him up.

Remy didn't understand why Logan would consistently try to challenge the bucket head.

The guy's skeleton was made out of metal. What did he hope to accomplish? He would charge, and then Magneto would use his powers and flick him to the side. It was the same old story.

Yet EVERY time the short tempered man would try to attack the other older man. Remy lost count of his futile attempts. He was pretty sure number thirteen just occurred.

The professor finally stepped in and threatened every man aboard that he would do his voodoo, or whatever it was called, and make them all switch their sexual preference to men.

The only one who looked disappointed when everyone settled down was Christian.

Emma rolled her eyes at the bunch. She couldn't believe that they had to rely on the fuck ups known as the brotherhood.

The one smelled like something dead, and the fire starter blatantly told her he had a thing for pregnant women.

The only good thing that happened out of it was Scott seemed to become the protective jealous type when he heard the remark.

She hated him for getting her hopes up, even the smallest bit.

They were all headed into a serious situation, and she felt the need to say something, anything…to let him know how she felt. She had tried once before, but maybe things were different now. Things didn't seem so perfect in the lives of Scott Summers and Jean Grey at the moment.

She glanced over and noticed Gambit flipping a card through his fingertips in a nervous manner. She couldn't even imagine how he felt right now. He had found out the location, and never lost faith that Rogue was alive, like herself.

It seemed that the other X-Men had thought Rogue dead. It was true that a body did appear, but Gambit had a point. Trask had a man that could clone working for them. They were just trying to throw them off the trail.

She just hoped she wasn't wrong. It would literally kill the man if he found out Rogue was truly dead. She knew that they had gone to help the other mutants that were imprisoned as well, but that would really fuck up the mood.

"The island is up ahead. Everybody prepare yourselves." The voice of Scott brought her back to the current situation.

The jet landed at a very vacant looking beach. Emma had a hard time believing they were at the right place.

The brotherhood stood, and Mystique clearly tried to show her dominant position by being the first to reach the exit. Emma rolled her eyes. She could hardly believe that the woman was Rogue's mother. However, she knew that despite her hard exterior, the shape shifter did truly care about her daughter.

Remy followed the others, but when he made it to the exit, the door unexpectedly shut in his face.

All of the sudden, they were jolted from the movement of the jet. It was raised in the air, and soon they realized the culprit behind the movement.

Magneto held them stationary in the air. The man actually had a guilty look on his face when he spoke. "I'm sorry Charles. We will rescue the innocent. But we will kill every last traitor, as well as anyone whom stands in our way."

The Professor seemed panicked. "You don't have to go through with the blood shed Magnus! We can work together for a better outcome!"

The other man almost looked sad. "We need that enhancement formula Charles."

Remy seemed to get the message before everyone else. Ol' bucket head wanted the formula to either enhance powers, or bring out the dormant X-gene in carriers. He was the exact opposite of Trask enterprises. While they wanted to wipe all of them out, Magneto wanted mutants to rule the world.

Of course, Wolverine chose that moment to charge through the front window, and Magneto simply flicked his wrist, and Logan soon found himself in a very painful situation. He was pinned to the jet, his own arms crossed over himself, and punctured through his body to keep him immobile. He actually roared in pain when he tried to remove them. It appeared that Magneto fished hooked his claws into the jet so he couldn't escape his own fleshy prison.

Magneto then fused the metal of the jet to block all exits.

Remy would be damned if he let anyone come between him and rescuing Rogue. He knew she was here. He could sense it. He quickly charged a card, and had almost completed the task of blowing a hole in the structure before Jean interrupted him.

"Gambit, the jet is made of metal almost as strong as the adamantium in Wolverine! If that charge goes off in here we are all dead!"

He began to pace back and forth. He was past the point of frustrated. He was pissed.

"Like, HELLO! Did everybody forget what I do best?"

Remy raised his head and felt relief wash over him. He was so caught up in the moment he hadn't thought rationally about the current circumstances. No wonder nobody else was freaking out. They had Kitty!

She quickly went to work, and somehow managed to free Wolverine with her phasing ability. He let out a grunt to show his appreciation.

Remy would give him so much crap later. He got his ass whooped by an old man, and then had to be rescued by a petite woman who was barely 5'4.

As if Wolverine suddenly developed the ability to hear thoughts, he glared at the Cajun. "Not one word Gumbo, not ONE word."

Remy raised his hands in mock surrender. He turned to the small brunette. "_Chaton_, would you do the honors?"

Kitty grinned, and kind of pushed him/phased him out of the Jet. The others weren't too far behind. He decided he hated phasing almost as much as he hated flying.

They soon headed off to find Magneto and his band of morons.

Then, without any type of warning, they were all knocked off of their feet from some type of explosion. It almost felt like the explosion came from within the island itself. Led by Wolverine, they quickly followed the cries of a city

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They soon found their destination. Remy was surprised at the small size of it. Apparently Trask was at the beginning stages of forcing mutants onto the island.

He took in the amount of chaos. Individuals were running everywhere attempting to find some form of protection.

A voice shouted at him through the pandemonium. He was surprised when he found out that the voice belonged to Mystique. He was even more surprised to see that she looked, well, normal. She shouted in his direction. "We have transportation to evacuate everyone on the far side of the island…" She took a moment to catch her breath. "Bombs are planted in the island. The whole place is a death trap. They set them off when they saw us approaching. There are also these… these…_ THINGS_ that are guarding the area. They apparently can inhibit our powers!"

Well that explained her new look. She no longer could use her mutation.

He quickly pressed his communicator and informed the others.

A look of relief crossed her face when she heard him warn the others, and she suddenly fell into him. He noticed a blood stain on her back as she did so.

He lowered her to the ground, not really knowing what to do. He attempted to put pressure on the wound, but he knew his attempts were futile.

Apparently, she did too. "Don't waste your efforts. I'm dying and I know it."

Her breaths became shallow. She suddenly grasped the collar of his coat, and brought him closer to her face. "Find her. Let her know the only reason I came was to find her."

Her grasp loosened, and he knew she was dead.

He quickly stood and took in his surroundings. He saw a large structure that almost looked like a castle more than a mansion. He knew if she was here, that is where she would be.

He grabbed his Bo staff from within his jacket, and pressed the small button to extend it. He didn't need his powers to fight.

He took off at a high speed towards his destination. There was suddenly another loud explosion, and he almost wept when he saw the structure slowly begin to topple down upon itself.

The sight made him more desperate to reach his destination. As he was running, he barely had time to avoid the long sword like weapon that was aimed for his throat.

He quickly ducked, and swung his Bo Staff in his attacker's direction. He knocked his assailant down for a brief moment, which was all that he needed.

He landed on top of the individual, and slammed his staff against the person's throat. If it could be even be called a person. The creature had no pigment, and had teeth as sharp as the weapon it carried.

He came back to his senses, and pressed harder against his Bo staff. "Tell me where I can find a woman that goes by the name of Rogue!"

Now any normal person would have missed the flash of recognition in the creatures eyes, but not Remy. This thing knew Rogue, which meant she was alive!

The thing suddenly spit in his face. He released the pressure he had against the creature's throat, and slammed his fist a few times in it's face.

"I'll ask one more time. Where. Is. She?"

The creature actually attempted to speak as he was being choked to death. "I'll never betray my master!"

Remy noticed a small collar around the man's neck with a name printed on it.

"Egen huh? You willing to die for him? Because I promise you, if you don't give me the information I need, I will kill you AND him."

The creature suddenly maneuvered himself in such a manner that caused Remy to fall back off of him. It stood up and spat in his direction. "Master Shaw cannot be killed by any man!"

So, the guy was working for Shaw? He wasn't surprised.

He braced himself as the creature began to attempt to slash at him. The son of a bitch was fast! He had a few tricks up his own sleeves though.

He grabbed the small blade hidden within his boot, and swiftly threw it at his target. The object hit the creature in the thigh, and it stumbled in its attempts to stab him.

To Remy's surprise, it yanked his knife from its leg, and discarded it on the ground. It charged with a battle-like war cry, and Gambit braced himself for the attack.

Suddenly the creature slowed its charge. It looked down to see three very long, very sharp claws piercing its abdomen. The claws disappeared just as quick as they entered, and the creature literally fell down dead.

Wolverine tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck in the process. "I had to shut that guy up."

Remy was shocked. "What the fuck? He knew where Rogue is!"

Logan smirked. "So do I. I can smell her scent. You were right. She's alive."

If he were an emotional man, he would have cried at those words. "Take me to her."

Logan nodded his head, and they both proceeded to the mound of ruble that was standing just moments before.

Then his breath caught in his throat. He could see her long hair flying around her in the distance, her signature white streak gently caressing her face. He instantly became enamored with her all over again.

He took off towards her at a dead run. As he came closer she stopped and bent over, catching her breath. He screamed her name to get her attention. "ROGUE!"

She didn't look up. She most likely didn't hear him. He slowed his pace as he approached her. "I knew you were alive…I knew it…."

She lifted her gaze, and he was lost in the emeralds that she called eyes. He instantly embraced her and held her closely to his chest. He felt like he couldn't get her close enough to himself. His unshed tears could no longer be contained. "I knew it…_Dieu merci! __Je t'aime tellement!"( _Thank God. I love you so much).

He was more than surprised when she quickly pushed away from him.

"Listen buddy, I don't know who the fuck you are."

Wolverine gave him a worried glance.

If hearts could literally break, he would hear the sounds of his shattering right about now. He knew that she may have gone through some fucked up shit, but how could she not recognize him?

He slowly raised his hand to his chest. "_Chère, _it's me!"

She squinted at him as if she was trying to identify him, and she suddenly began to snap her fingers in a repetitive motion trying to think of his name!

"Oh yeah! What's your name again? Randy? Rambo? Ronnie? It's on the tip of my tongue!"

What.

The.

Fuck.

He could have sworn he could to hear the shatter of his heart.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The guy in front of her looked like he was going to cry. What was his damn name again? She started rambling off what she thought his name was, and was getting pissed that she couldn't think of it.

Finally he interrupted. "Remy! It's me..REMY!"

"Shit, I was just about to say that. Listen Romeo; we don't have time for this, I'll explain later. Just get me the fuck out of here!"

Remy knew something was severely wrong. Then it hit him. The woman in front of him wasn't Rogue, it was somebody else. He quickly pushed her up against the nearest building. "Who the fuck are you?"

Wolverine seemed to catch on, so he didn't interrupt.

She attempted to struggle, and realized it was useless without her powers. "My name is Carol Danvers. Also known as Ms. Marvel. Let me go!"

He shouted back just as loud. "You let her go!"

She stopped her movements and glared in his direction. "She doesn't deserve this body. She gave it up a long time ago! It is rightfully mine!"

"Like hell it is!"

She didn't have time for this. "Listen asshole, we have to get off of this island, otherwise we are all dead. Can we discuss this at another time?"

He begrudgingly loosened his grip, and she shrugged out of his grasp.

Logan awkwardly stepped between the two and spoke up. "Everyone has been evacuated, and the team is ready to go." He led the way with the train wreck of a situation following him.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they met the others, everyone looked a bit worn out, but they all were there.

Their expressions brightened when they saw Rogue approaching them.

Wolverine quickly held up his hands. "Don't waste your time. Its not her."

The Professor hovered in his hover chair in front of the group. "I know. How are you Carol? It has been a long time."

She smirked down at the older man. "No thanks to your precious little Rogue."

She then looked towards the others. "She isn't as innocent as you think. She killed me, you know."

Emma heard enough from the bitch. "You know damn well that it was an accident!"

Ms. Marvel bristled at the voice of Emma Frost. It was her who had tricked her into trusting her, before she was ambushed by the hellfire club. Of course, she did look different with the pregnant belly she was now carrying. Pregnant or not, she would have her revenge.

Ms. Marvel charged at the other woman, but was abruptly stopped by a pair of strong arms. "You won't touch her!"

The others stood silent as Scott contained the thrashing woman.

Kitty cleared her throat. "Can we please leave before we are all blown to bits?"

The others came to their senses, and began to board their very messed up jet.

Suddenly, the sound of an eerie laugh caught their attention. Out of the rebel, three forms emerged.

They were quickly identified as Shaw, Kara, and Sinister.

The others quickly prepared themselves.

Shaw yawned as if he was bored. "There is no need. Thanks to you, I was made aware of Trask's betrayal, and they will suffer."

As the team leader, Scott spoke first. "Aren't you done with the killing? Let it go!"

He then turned to Kara. "Kara, you're better then this. You don't belong with them!"

Kara immediately cut him off. "Save the shit. I was born to do this. I had quite the time torturing that one over there.' She pointed to the woman she assumed was Rogue.

Remy would have killed her if he could. No wonder Rogue had given up.

Shaw again spoke. "I have come to make a little agreement. Give me back the girl, and you will never hear from us again."

"That will never fucking happen!" Remy would kill them if they even tried to take her.

Shaw sighed dramatically. "I thought you would say that. Kill them all. Bring me the girl."

Kara began to shift into her favorite cat. As she pounced towards Jean, her movement was interrupted by Scott's optic blast.

"We have our powers!"

The battle commenced, and it seemed that neither side was doing much damage. It didn't help that Shaw was damn near immortal.

Ms. Marvel saw an opportunity, and she was going to take it. She could fly again! She lifted herself from the ground. While they were fighting, they probably wouldn't even notice her fly off into the sunset, never to be seen again.

She quickly flew up, and was stunned when an object suddenly hit her. As it fell to the ground, she fearfully realized that is was the infant Nuetra that Sinister had just shown her earlier that day, only it was obviously deceased. Everything became hazy, and Ms. Marvel knew that she would no longer exist in the body she inhabited. She even felt bad for the girl. She would no longer be a mutant. As things went black, a small tear escaped her eye as she fell towards the ground.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Remy saw Rogue, or whoever the hell had control of her, quickly falling towards the ground. He rushed over and quickly caught her, the force knocking them both to the ground.

He looked down and saw that she was out like a light. The situation at hand seemed bad. Really bad.

Emma yelled from the jet above the others "Christian, you have to use your powers!"

He yelled back. "If I do, none of our powers will work!"

"DO IT!"

In an instant, they all were aware of the change. Kara immediately became human again, and Shaw actually looked unconfident.

He quickly pulled out a device and pressed a button. They were all thrown back by a final explosion, and Shaw and Kara took off. They were running towards a helicopter not far off in the distance.

Remy attempted to chase after them, but was stopped by Warren. "We have to go Gambit! There isn't any time!"

Remy knew he was right, but if they escaped they would never be safe. "FUCK!" He cursed out loud in frustration. He quickly scooped Rogue up within his arms and boarded the jet with the others.

"You cowards!" Sinister shouted at the other two retreating forms.

Emma slowly turned towards the injured man. It was a pathetic sight. He basically was on death's doorstep.

She slowly approached him when she spoke. "You tortured my brother."

Sinister gurgled in out his response. "I made him great."

Emma kicked him in the head as hard as she could. "I hope you burn in hell you sick fuck."

She turned away and quickly headed towards the jet so they could get the hell out of there.

Suddenly there was the sound of a gun being fired. She tried to take a step forward, and felt a numbing pain beginning to spread throughout her chest. She looked down, and saw the deep scarlet color of her blood slowly spread across her white top. She slowly turned and saw the weapon in Sinister's hand. With his last breath he mocked her. "I will see you there Ms. Frost—" His words were stopped short when an optic blast hit him straight in the face. The man was definitely dead after that.

Emma turned back towards the jet. She took a step, and instantly collapsed when she couldn't manage the strength to take a breath.

She saw Scott running towards her, as well as her brother. She knew by the movement of his lips he was calling her name, but his voice seemed so far off in the distance.

He quickly swooped her up and carried her onto the jet. There was a medical cot in the back, and Jean instantly began working on Emma.

Emma was only concerned about one thing. "Scott…"

He kneeled by her side and shook his head back and forth. "Don't speak. Everything will be okay!"

She could see the fear in his eyes and smiled weakly at him. "Liar."

It was weird. She knew that she should be in a lot of pain, but she wasn't.

She knew that she was dying. "Scott..the baby…please…"

He squeezed her hand a little harder, and gazed down into her ice blue eyes.

As Remy held Rogue within his arms, he instantly was able to identify the look on the other mans face. Scott loved her. He was in love with his fiancé and the mother of his child. He felt sorry for the guy.

The lining of Emma's vision began to seem fuzzy and white.

"Take care of her…"

Scott began to silently weep. "Your just seven months. You have to live Emma! You have to live for our daughter!"

Remy had a new found respect for Jean. Despite her hatred towards the other women, and the overly affectionate display between Emma and her husband, Jean was desperately trying to save her life.

Jean wiped her brow, and spoke up. "She has lost so much blood…"

Scott wiped a stray hair from Emma's face. She smiled weakly at him.

She then weakly lifted her hand and stopped Jeans frantic attempts to save her life.

Jean could hear the desperation in Emma's voice when she spoke. "Please take care of her."

She was talking about the baby.

Jean could only nod her head as Emma's grasp loosened from her hand.

She slowly turned her head back towards Scott. "Scott …I…I…"

He finished her sentence for her. "I love you too."

A small tear fell from her eye. She then smiled. "It's so beautiful Scott. I'm not afraid."

After that, she stilled, and everyone knew she was gone.

Without missing a beat, Jean put on some rubber gloves. "Scott, I have to save the baby."

The only response she got from the weeping man in front of her was a head nod, and she prepped to deliver a premature baby who had just lost her mother.

_**To be Continued…**_

**update: It was brought to my attention that one part of my story may be confusing. Sorry for the confusion! It is the part when Rogue/ Ms. Marvel get hit by the dead power stealing Nuetra. Honestly, I made the nuetra die because if it was alive, the noble Xmen would surely rescue it and bring it back with them:) I just couldn't handle another character at the moment. I leave it to the reader to assume what happened...but in my own mind, Sinister saw "Ms Marvel" attempt to fly off, he quickly killed the nuetra, and tossed it. It was freshly killed (eww I know) so its skin still had a brief moment to absorb.  
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**As for Rogue we will see...;)**

**Sorry for any confusion!**


	21. Not This Again

*** Peaks head around corner * Hello? Is anyone out there? It tis I, amsanch. I have returned from my oh so hectic world, and have made my way back home to the world of fanfiction! It has been way too long, and for that I am sorry! I had much going on, and I didn't want to half-heartedly write my story. Good news is now I can give this story my full attention! Thanks for sticking with me guys and gals…you rock!**

**Chapter 21**

**Not This Again**

He was really beginning to hate this area of the mansion. He hated the stark white walls, and the tell tale beeping of the monitors. He hated the smell of the extremely sanitized rooms. Why did all medical rooms smell the same, no matter where they were located?

He hated looking at her frail form and seeing her color fade every day, as if a little bit more of her was disappearing right before his eyes.

But most of all, he hated that he had not been able to speak to her since they left the now destroyed Trask island.

Rogue had been in a coma for about a month. The professor had informed him that due to the fucked up situation that she had been in, her mind kind of temporarily shut down. Of course, he had phrased it in a much more medical and professional manner. The good news was that he also stated that everything appeared to be normal in her head. She was basically in a dream like state.

There was also the little fact that the thing Sinister had tossed in her direction, while she was controlled by Ms. Marvel, may have completely zapped her powers away permanently.

He was anxious for her to wake up. He felt like the whole messed up situation was his fault. If he had just told her that he was going back to New Orleans to divorce Belladonna, they would have never gotten in that fight. Even though they made up after Kitty and Peter's wedding, things weren't quite like they were before.

At the moment he couldn't care less if she woke up and hated him for the rest of her life. He just wanted her to wake up!

He slumped over in his chair, and ran his hands through his hair. How the hell was he going to tell her about Emma? And Mystique? He could only imagine how the conversation would go. 'Oh hey, glad to have you back! Oh, and by the way, your best friend died and so did your mom. Want to hang out later?'

He leaned back in his chair and slowly rubbed his hands over his face. His facial hair had grown out quite a bit, and he wasn't accustomed to the feeling of the coarse hair that long on his face.

He had barely left her side when they arrived back at the mansion on that day a month ago. Everyone one was in tears and emotionally drained.

Their leader was almost as bad as him. Speaking of One-eye, he hadn't seen him around for a while.

He heard the footsteps of someone approaching, and wasn't surprised when he saw Wolverine poke his head around the corner. The other man was there just about as much as he was. "Any changes?"

Remy slowly shook his head. "No."

Logan took a seat by the bed. The Cajun needed to get out of this space. He was a free spirit, and these four walls would be the death of him. "I'll stay with her. Go wash up, and do us all a favor and shave that shit off your face. You look like you should be making duck calls"

Remy smiled slightly at Logan's attempt at humor. He was actually surprised that he even knew what Duck Dynasty was.

He slowly stood up from the couch that had been brought into the room. It had been his resting place for the past month. "Thanks _mon ami._"

The gruff man grunted in response, and Remy left the room.

As he passed a nearby window, he looked out on the mansions grounds. His eyes wandered over to the lake, and he was immediately reminded of her. It was one of her favorite spots. There was a small wooden gazebo located right next to it, and she would often escape there for hours, often reading one of her cheesy romance novels that she thought no one knew that she read. He also would often find her on the dock, just sitting at the edge with her feet dangling in the cool waters.

He smiled at the memories of their younger days.

A faint cry from one of the rooms above brought him back to present times, and he continued his journey to the upper levels of the mansion

He felt slightly guilty because he had not really visited Scott, Jean, and the new addition at Xavier 's.

Since the encounter at Trask island, the atmosphere in the mansion had changed completely. Christian rarely left his room, while Scott was never to be found. Kitty and Piotr unwillingly left to visit his side of the family overseas, and the Professor was either checking in on Rogue or in his study.

The new school year would be starting again soon, and at least that would bring everyone back to mansion. Hopefully, it would bring back a sense of normalcy as well. At least that is what he hoped.

He decided to take a quick detour and at least check in on Jean.

He gently knocked on the door, and was welcomed with a soft reply saying, "Come in˝.

As he quietly opened the door, he saw Jean in a plush rocking chair by the window.

He had to give the woman some credit. Despite the emotional roller coaster of a situation that Jean had gone through, she took on the role of a mother without any hesitations.

She glanced up in his direction, and gave him a warm welcoming smile. He felt slightly guilty under her gaze. He should've checked on her more often.

He took in her appearance. Although she looked tired, and not much like her usually primped self, she did look happy. He was brought out of his thoughts when the little pink bundle began to move and make faint whimpering cries.

She quietly made hushing noises, and changed the infants' position to her shoulder. She then began pacing a series of soft taps on the babes' small back.

She rested her head back on the chair and slowly closed her eyes. After a few brief moments of silence she finally spoke. "She has been really fussy lately."

She brushed her hair out of her eyes. "You'll have to excuse my appearance, you're lucky that I even brush my teeth."

He smirked at her and replied, "You're a good looking woman no matter what you do."

He then changed his expression to mock a serious one. "Trust me, I understand. It's a curse to be this good looking."

She rolled her eyes, and had a sad smile on her face. "I wish Scott thought so. I know he is going through a grieving stage, but in a way, so am I."

Remy shifted his weight and stuck his hands in his pockets. He was never good at these types of conversations. In his lake of the woods, they weren't necessarily raised to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

As if she was reading his thoughts, she smiled at him and said, "I'm sorry. I don't expect you to say anything. I just wish he realized I am doing this on my own, and it is a lot to handle."

The redhead had always been bright and optimistic. Now it looked like she had lost some of her luster. The thought made him angry. He would have to have a little talk with Shades.

He was brought back to the current situation when the wails of the baby increased. He unwillingly tensed, and Jean gave him a sly smile.

"You know, since you're here I might as well take a shower. Mind watching her for a bit?"

Before he had a chance to protest, he found himself holding the tiny babe at arms length. Jean rolled her eyes, and adjusted the baby in his arms so he held her in a cradling position.

He stiffened his arms.

Sure, he had been around kids, but at the time he was just a pup himself.

As if on cue, the little infant began to bawl. He quickly turned to hand her back to Jean, but the sneaky woman was already halfway out of the door. He heard her when she was already half way down the hall. "I'll be quick!"

He stared at the now empty doorframe in disbelief. The little baby's cries started to get louder. He tried to mock Jean's bouncing motions, and that just seemed to make the baby cry even more.

He suddenly had an idea. He was surprised he didn't think of it earlier.

Sure, his empathy powers were shadowed in comparison to his primary abilities, but they did have a slight influence over emotions, and he was planning to use it on the wailing baby he currently held.

He again held the baby out at arms length, and did his best to change his voice to baby talk mode. "Alright little girl, look at uncle Remy."

Apparently, she had other plans and cried even harder, which resulted in her squeezing her tear filled eyes even tighter.

He sighed in defeat.

He decided to change her position, and placed her against his shoulder. As he was transferring her to her new position, her eyes locked with his own.

Ironically, he didn't even have to use his empathy. The tiny infant stopped her crying as soon as she gazed into his ruby eyes.

He was absolutely positive, that at any given moment the baby would start screaming.

His eardrums and himself braced for impact.

However, he did not expect what happened next.

Her bright blue eyes took on a half moon shape, and one corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly, awarding him with a hint of a smile.

He couldn't help but smile back. Suddenly, the thought of fathering children was not such a scary idea.

The moment was interrupted when he heard a snicker from the door. Jean walked in and relieved him from his duty. "I saw that. You actually got her to settle down! And you got rewarded with a bit of a smile! She is a preemie and only four weeks old, so you should feel honored! Who would've thought that the great Casanova himself had a way with children!" She then turned towards the baby and widened her eyes while raising her voice a thousand octaves. "Megan, who would've thought that uncle Remy was so good with babies! "

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not a Casanova anymore _cher_. I'm a one-woman type of guy now."

Jean gave him a sad smile. "She will wake up soon. I just know it."

"I hope you're right. We don't know what the hell that thing did to her." He turned to make his leave.

"Hey Remy?"

"Yeah?"

"If you see Scott, will you tell him that I could really use his company right now?"

"You got it."

He finally headed to his own room. Scott Summers was really starting to piss him off. The guy had some nerve. He knew that one eye was depressed, but tough shit! He had a baby girl that needed him. He also had a loving fiancé who was crazy enough to forgive him of all of his past transgressions and raise _his_ child as _their_ own. The guy needed to get it the fuck together. Quick! He didn't realize how lucky he was.

He quickly took a shower, and shaved. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a plush towel around his waist. He took a look at himself in the mirror and examined his reflection. "That's much better."

He walked over to his dresser and opened up his top drawer. An object fell out and bounced on the floor. He held his towel around his waist with one hand, and bent down to pick up the small item. A smile crossed his lips when he realized what it was.

In his hands, he held a small stuffed bear that held a deck of cards. Rogue had given it to him on his seventeenth birthday. Although he played it cool when the gift was received, deep down he cherished it. He had been lavished with fine things his whole life, but this was the first time someone gave him a gift that actually meant something.

He propped the stuffed toy up on his nightstand. The memory of her giving him the gift made his heart ache.

He missed her.

He never realized how empty his life would be without her. He felt the sudden urge to be by her side, and quickly dressed himself. As he made his way back to the med bay, he heard some sort of commotion. His brisk pace turned into a full-blown sprint towards her room. He abruptly ran into Wolverine, who was clearly trying to block the entrance to Rogue's medical room.

The gruff man shoved his hands against the younger mans chest. "You can't go in there just yet…"

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Remy grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. In a surprisingly cool demeanor, he said, "Get the fuck out of my way old man."

Wolverine growled in response. "I'll let that slide this one time Cajun. You don't want to go in there right now. She's awake, but she ain't exactly acting like herself…"

Remy decided to ignore the older mans warning. He didn't care what state she was in. If she was showing any signs of life, that was enough for him.

He slowly inhaled and gathered his composure. "I don't care what I find in there. As long as she is coherent, I can handle it."

The gruff man ran his hand through his hair. "Fine. Just take things slow with her."

Remy looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

Logan brushed past him making his way towards the exit. "You'll see what I'm talkin' about."

Remy shrugged his shoulders and turned back towards the entrance to her room. Whatever was on the other side, he could handle.

He slowly straightened out his attire and took a deep breath in. He didn't know why he felt so nervous.

He opened the door, and saw the best sight he could possibly see at that moment. Although a bit on the thin side, she looked as if nothing had happened. She was sitting up in her bed, propped up by some pillows. She was speaking quietly with the professor.

He couldn't contain himself, and his emotions got the better of him. He quickly ran to her side and wrapped his arms around her. He gently placed his hand on the back of her head to bring her closer. He was so over run with different emotions that he couldn't speak. All he could manage to get out was, "I've missed you so much."

He felt her hands rise to his chest, and slowly push him back. He quickly grabbed her hands within his own. He didn't want to lose the close contact so soon. He knew that there was a possibility that she would hate him, and he told himself he would be able to deal with that. But now that she was awake, he wasn't so sure.

When he pulled back and took in her face, he became concerned. She looked as although she was studying him, and she had a look of confusion on her face.

And then, for the first time in a month, she spoke. "I'm sorry…Do I know you?"

**To be continued…**

**Sorry that this chapter is on the short side. It is a filler for what is about to come! I will put a new chapter very soon!**


	22. You Again

**Hello everybody! I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Sadly, it is coming towards the end of my little creation. There is still much to come, but it is going to start wrapping up soon. I was thinking maybe around four more chapters. Maybe more. Who knows. I mean it only took me two years to write it. (That is sarcasm by the way.) **

**Well, on with the fic!**

**Shout out to Dragonstars for bringing up the duck calls comment from last chapter. I am glad you can appreciate my weird sense of humor!**

**Chapter 22**

**You Again**

He was caught off guard from her comment, and he was not used to the feeling. At first he thought she was making an attempt to joke with him, but when he saw the serious expression on her face, he knew that she was quite serious.

Before he had a chance to respond, he heard the Professor address him. "Remy, if you don't mind, could I speak with you in the hallway for a brief moment?"

Gambit slowly arose to a standing position. Twice now the woman in front of him, the woman that he loved, had forgotten who he was. The first time she was basically possessed by Carol, and now this. Why couldn't things ever go right when it came to them?

His thoughts were interrupted by the Professor's voice. "We shall be right back my dear. Just stay put."

Rogue meekly nodded her head, and he swore that he detected the slightest hint of a blush on her cheeks. What the hell was going on? Rogue meek?

Yup. She had officially lost it.

He followed the Professor out into the hallway. As soon as the door shut behind him, he couldn't contain himself any longer. "What the hell is wrong with her?! She has no idea who I am!"

The Professor towered his fingers in front of his face as if he was in deep thought. "It appears that the trauma has caused her to suffer from a form of amnesia."

Remy leaned against the nearest wall and leaned his head back. "Is it permanent?"

"I don't believe it will be."

Finally! Some promising news. He exhaled, not even realizing that he had been holding his breath. "When will she remember?"

"These situations are delicate Gambit. It could possibly be weeks, or even years. It depends on the patient."

Remy again slumped against the wall. "Years?..."

The Professor had a sympathetic look on his face. "Possibly. There is no telling."

The older man looked at the younger one, and could see that the man was deep in thought. "What is it Gambit?"

"I just don't get it. How does she remember how to talk and walk, yet she doesn't remember me?"

"It is the mystery of amnesia. It can affect every individual differently. Ironically, she can recall her age but not who she is. I do not know if this will lesson the blow, but she does not remember any of us. Not you, not Logan, not Emma…"

Remy ran his hand through his hair. "But why?"

The professor actually lightly shrugged his shoulders. "At this point, it could either be the trauma, or that neutra, or possibly both. There is no telling for certain. But the good thing is she is awake. I have spoken with her and explained as much as I could."

"Does she know she is a mutant?"

"Yes. It seems that she just cannot remember individuals that she has encountered in her life time, along with her past."

The professor saw the younger man's shoulders sink down an inch or two. "Now now. We have to be optimistic. She has returned to us. She is alive…" he then displayed a small smile, "and she is in need of a friend. This could be healthy for the both of you."

Remy quickly lifted his head. "The both of us?"

The Professor actually chuckled. "Don't look so surprised dear boy." He then turned his wheelchair to leave. He turned back one final time before he left. "Many people do not get the chance to start over. Make the best of the situation at hand. You both are young and have been through so much. It is time to enjoy life. Why not bring her along for the ride?" He then actually winked and left the med bay.

How the hell could he be so calm at a time like this? The old timer had finally lost it.

He shook his head to help clear his mind, and took a deep breath in. How should he handle this situation? Should he walk on eggshells? He was a master thief, so he knew he was perfectly capable of doing so.

But then he thought of her. She would hate to regain her memories and find out that everyone was tiptoeing around her and her emotions. It would make her feel like that insecure goth girl that she once was.

No. He was going to take the head on approach.

He walked in and plopped himself down on the couch that was brought in for him while she was in her comatose state.

They both sat in silence staring at each other. She shifted uncomfortably due to the awkward silence. She nervously started to rub her hands together. "Where is the other man?"

Remy shrugged his shoulders. "The professor? Probably poppin' wheelies somewhere."

A small laugh escaped her. The sound was beautiful. "I somehow doubt that. So. I guess he told you what was going on with me?"

"More or less."

She leaned back against her pillows. "It's so unsettling. How does somebody forget everybody, including themselves?"

Again, he shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me. But we will work on reacquainting you with those who matter, like myself."

She rolled her eyes in a way that was so familiar to him. The sight saddened him, and it took everything in him not to shake her and scream, "Snap out of it!"

She gave a small smile in his direction. "Are you always this modest?"

"I have been called many things _Chère_, but modest is not one of them."

She laughed. "Maybe they just don't know you."

He took on a serious expression. "Nobody knows me like you do."

She reached up and started nervously playing with a strand of loose white hair. "Is that so? How exactly do we know each other?"

He leaned back and kicked his feet up on the bed. "You want the long unrated version, or the shorter PG one?"

She let out a nervous laugh. "Lets just go with the shorter one for right now. We will possibly discuss the unrated version at a later point in time."

"Well you're no fun." He then quickly leaned forward and brushed her hair away from her face. The gesture made her blush, and he couldn't hold back his grin. "Well, to put it quite simply, you're my girlfriend."

He swore he could hear her swallow. Her blush was more noticeable. "Oh. I see. Are we serious?"

He stared into her emerald eyes. "Yes. We had a rough road, but we always found our way back to each other."

She looked as if she was unsure about what she was about to say next. The color of her face was a shade of scarlet. "Have we…" She turned away shyly, too embarrassed to finish her sentence.

He knew what she was about to ask, but he needed her to open up to him. So he would play the dumb part for now. "Have we what?"

"You know…"

"I assure you I don't."

She threw her hands in front of her face as if she could hide from the question. "Please don't make me say it."

He looked at her with concern, but inside he was grinning ear to ear like the Cheshire cat. "Don't feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about asking me anything."

She was beet red by now. "You know… have we done _it_."

"It?"

She huffed in frustration. "Have we had sex?"

He raised his hand to his chest in mock shock. "You wake up from a coma with amnesia, and you are already inquiring about our sex life? We have strict moral values Rogue!"

She looked down ashamed. "I'm sorry, I…"

She stopped when she caught a glimpse of his face. He looked like he was about to crack up at any moment.

"You're messing with me, aren't you?"

He grabbed her hands within his own. "Yes. And to answer your other question, yes we have. But we have plenty of time to talk about the intense details…or I could tell you about them now if you like? Maybe a demonstration?"

"No! I think I am at my max today. I don't think I can handle much more." She then eyed him suspiciously. "If you are my boyfriend, then how come you don't know my real name?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "It was something that you never told us. I asked you once when we were younger, and you got upset…" He again grasped her hand within his own. "Look, I don't know how I am supposed to tell you things. I don't want you to get overwhelmed or anything. I also don't want you to go in overload mode and detonate."

She smiled weakly at him. "I'm glad you are honest with me. Don't tiptoe around me. Just help catch me up to speed. I can handle it."

So he did. He told her about how her first kiss experience had gone totally wrong, and that is when she started using her alias. She did it, so her mother Mystique wouldn't be able to locate her. He also told her that plan didn't work out so well. He talked of their friendship, and how she had left him that letter when she upped and left to go to Emma's school. He then discussed as much as he could until the present, which sadly included the death of Mystique as well as Emma. The only tiny detail he may have left out is what he had to do with Belladonna. He had to find out where Rogue was taken when she was kidnapped, and he was desperate. He would hate that evil woman for the rest of his life. However, this was not the time nor place for him to bring up his ex wife. He wanted them to have a fresh start. It was well after midnight by the time he finished.

She sat there quietly, and gently wiped her eyes. He quickly leaned forward and wiped away a tear. "I'm here for you _Chère_."

She reached over to the table by her bed and grabbed a tissue. "I feel so guilty that I cannot remember these people to even mourn their deaths."

He gave her a saddened expression. "Consider it a blessing _Chère_. It would be too much to handle. At least this way it allows you to get used to it in a way, so if you do remember some day it won't be such a shock."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

He stood up and kissed the top of her head. She almost looked fearful. "Are you leaving?"

"You've had a long day _Chère_. Get some rest. I will be down first thing tomorrow morning." He knew that she probably wanted some time to herself to think.

He was proven incorrect when she quickly reached out and grabbed his hand. "Please stay. Even though I don't remember, it's comforting to have you close."

His heart almost beat out of his chest at her admission. He made his way to the couch and prepared it so he could sleep there. Before he lay down, he went over and kissed her on the forehead. "Get some rest. We will have you reacquaint yourself with everyone tomorrow."

She smiled up at him. "Thanks for everything."

He laid his head down on his pillow. "No problem _Chère_."

There were a few moments of silence before she spoke next. "Hey, Remy?"

"Yeah?"

"So is it possible that I may not be a mutant anymore?"

He rolled over to face her. "Maybe. We will find out more tomorrow."

She paused before she whispered a small "Okay."

After that, sleep overtook them both.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

He woke up late the next morning. He groggily sat up and stretched in a cat like fashion. He took in his surroundings, and almost forgot where he was. Then he remembered the night before, and quickly looked over to the bed to see if Rogue was still asleep.

He became concerned when he found that the bed was empty. Although he wasn't too worried because he did notice that the bed was made. However, after recent events with her being kidnapped and all, he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of her wondering around by herself. He quickly got up and proceeded to locate his southern flower.

He heard some chatter in the kitchen, and he detected her voice within the conversation being held.

He smiled to himself. The woman had just found out she had amnesia, and then got a cliff notes version of her past, yet she still found her way to the kitchen for breakfast.

Some things never changed.

As he entered the kitchen, his good mood was diminished as soon as he saw the sight before him.

Rogue sat there smiling (looking beautiful he might add), immersed in a conversation with a man that he couldn't stand the sight of.

She was speaking with Warren.

When she saw him enter the kitchen, she smiled warmly in his direction. "Oh hey Remy! I hope I didn't wake you when I got up this morning. You stayed up late and I wanted you to get some rest."

He looked past her and eyed her company suspiciously. "You were up just as late as me."

She raised her eyebrow and followed his line of sight. "Yeah, but I was asleep for the past month."

He stepped in front of her blocking her from Warren's sight. He knew it was childish, but she was his. Warren knew he was out of line. "I think you should steer away from Rogue for now on."

Warren stood from his seat. "Relax. We were just having a civil conversation."

Rogue stepped out from behind Remy and looked between both men. "Am I missing something?"

Remy let out a sarcastic laugh. "I would say so. Did he fail to mention the past between you two?"

Rogue cocked her hip to the side and folded her arms across her chest.

Uh oh. He knew what that stance meant.

He was in trouble.

"For your information he did tell me. I need to talk to people on my own to find these things out. I don't need you to protect me."

He knew that she meant it, because her beautiful eyes had a little fire in them. He turned towards Warren, and saw that the other man wore a smug smile on his face.

He wanted to knock his teeth out.

Warren stood and brushed past him. "You need to relax Gambit. Rogue needs to reacquaint herself with all of us, not just you."

Gambit balled his fists up as his sides. "She needs me, her _boyfriend._"

Warren rubbed his chin. "Hmm, that's funny. From what I heard, you abandoned her when she needed you to go visit your ex. Are you sure you guys are still official?"

Rogue quickly turned to face him, and the look on her face was enough to break his heart. He wanted to have a new start with her. He never wanted to hurt her again.

Yet here they were, and the look on her face haunted him.

She took a step closer in his direction. "Is this true?"

He sighed in defeat and sat down in a near chair. "It is true…" he then turned and glared at Warren, "but not for the reason that you think. I went to have her sign divorce papers."

She stood quietly while she soaked up the information. "You were married why we were together?" She slowly sank into a chair herself. "What kind of woman was I?"

As he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by the winged Fucker. "You were…are…a wonderful woman Rogue. I mean it."

Remy had enough with this guy. He casually leaned back in his chair. Amnesia or not, he had told her A LOT the night before, and here she was trusting another man more than him.

"Well you guys seem to have gotten chummy in a short amount of time." He proceeded to grab an apple from the fruit centerpiece on the table. "Did he happen to tell you the reason you guys ended things?" He eyed Warren, and he saw a look of panic cross his face. He nailed it on the head. Warren didn't tell her.

She lifted her chin defiantly. If he wasn't so pissed off at the moment, he would of thought it was cute. "Yes. He told me we ended things because I developed feeling for you."

Remy almost choked on his apple. He then began to laugh at the fact that Warren was using her amnesia as an excuse to get close to her again. Talk about desperate!

When he regained his composure, he proceeded to explain things. "Actually, that is just a tiny bit off. You heard a noise coming from his room, and you busted his door down all super hero like, and you caught him dick deep in another woman. Another funny thing is that woman also happened to be in a relationship with me at the time."

Her confident look quickly subsided, and she looked appalled at the information she had received.

He continued. "Aww it is okay. I was going to end things with her anyway. And I don't think you were feeling him too much either."

Warren proceeded to shout at him. "You have gone too far Gambit!"

Remy gave him a cocky smirk. "No, I think it was you that went a bit too far _Mon Ami_."

Rogue quickly stood up. She turned towards the other man. "You are a disgusting liar."

Remy wore a smug grin on his face, and was doing a little victory dance in his head.

She quickly turned around and started walking towards the door. He sat there for a moment wondering where she was going.

She turned back to him and raised one eyebrow. "Well, are you comin' or not?"

He couldn't contain his smile as he leapt up to follow her. He gave a quick mock solute to Warren before he left.

The other man looked like he was about to cry. Served him right for trying to pull something that was so low handed.

**xxxxxxxxxx**

The next few weeks went by fairly quickly. Rogue was attempting to readjust the best that she could.

She was familiar with the rest of the team. It was almost comical when Kitty and Piotr returned. Although the smaller woman knew that Rogue had no memory, it did not stop her from doing a running start hug as soon as she saw her.

Rogue claimed she didn't mind, but he could tell that Kitty's action left her confused and embarrassed.

To add to her stress level, school had started back up. Numerous students were coming to greet her, and she didn't recognize one face.

There was also the little fact that she was showing no signs of her mutation. Any of them.

No absorbing. No flying. No using another power. No super strength. Nada.

He knew she was stressing because of it.

One day after class, he decided to ask her out on a date. It had been awhile since they had a chance to relax as a couple.

As he made his way to her room, he accidentally bumped into the shoulder of another teammate.

Scott Summers looked like shit. He was rarely seen, and when he was, he barely spoke two words.

One eye mumbled a quick "Sorry." before he proceeded to brush past him. Remy quickly reached out and had a firm grip on his arm. "Where the hell have you been? Your fiancé needs you!"

The other man at least had the decency to look ashamed. "How can I face her after everything."

Remy sighed and threw his head back. When had he become the mansion psychiatrist?

"Look. She obviously loves you. She has been worried about you. The other week she was looking all over for you."

Scott remained quiet, so he continued. "Plus your daughter is a handful! That little girl demands a lot of attention."

At the mention of his daughter, Scott sought out his eyes with his own. "Don't you understand? Every time I look at Megan I think of her… of Emma. That's not fair to Jean."

Gambit huffed in frustration. "Listen, tough shit. They both need you. You need to man the fuck up and handle the mess you created."

Scott straightened up. For a minute he thought he was going to throw a punch. However he was surprised at his response.

"You're…you're right. I…I need to go talk to Jean." And with that, he took off in the opposite direction.

Remy shook his head in frustration. If that was all that it took, he would have tried to talk to the man a long time ago.

He continued towards Rogue's room.

When he opened the door, he found her curled up in a chair with a book. The look on her face indicated that she was in deep thought, and had probably read the same paragraph about five times. Her look changed to a happy one at the sight of him.

She shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hey."

He still couldn't get over the fact that she blushed when she saw him. It was like they were seventeen all over again. He loved it.

He went over to her bed and dramatically fell back on it. She pretended to ignore him and went back to reading her book.

He rolled over and held his head up with his hand. "Whacha readin'?"

"Just a book about vampires and other stuff…"

He raised an eyebrow. "What kind of other stuff?"

She raised the book in an attempt to block her face. He was sure she was blushing again.

He knew the kind of books that she read. He just thought she looked cute when she got all schoolgirl shy on him.

"Intimate stuff…"

He grinned in her direction. "You don't have to live vicariously through your romance novels. I can show you the real thing."

She continued to act like she was reading her book, and he knew that she was scarlet by now. He rolled back onto his back and placed his hands underneath his head.

She set her book down and sighed.

"What's wrong _Chère_?"

She leaned back in her chair and looked out her window. "I just don't know how I fit in here. I'm not a mutant anymore…so why am I living in a home meant for them?"

He quickly shot up. He did not want to worry about her up and disappearing.

As if she read his thoughts, she said, "Don't worry, I don't plan on going anywhere. I'm just frustrated, that's all. I want to remember everything so bad, and no matter how hard I try, the memories just don't come to me."

He got up from the bed and was kneeling in front of her in seconds. "You'll get your memories back. The professor said it could take time. Who knows, you might even get your powers back too."

His heart almost broke from the sad look on her face. How could one woman turn him into a mushy pile of feelings?

He stood up, and grabbed her hand. He pulled on it slightly making her stand up.

"What do you say we do something tonight?"

She smiled up at him. "What do you have in mind?"

It took everything he had in him not to make some perverted comment. "A date."

She looked up and pretended to think. "Sure. But I pick the place."

He smiled at her playfulness. "Why not? What do _you_ have in mind?"

She was quick to answer. "Dinner. A picnic dinner by the lake. There is supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, and I really wanted to see it."

He shrugged his shoulders. He would much rather wine and dine her at a nice restaurant, but she was calling the shots tonight.

He nodded his head, and the grin on her face was almost child like. "Great. I'll bring the blanket, you cook the food."

He laughed at her giddiness over a little picnic. "Sounds like you are getting the sweeter end of the deal."

She then shrugged her own shoulders in a nonchalant way. "Hey, you were the one who asked me on the date, remember?"

"That I did. We have to do this right though. What time should I pick you up?"

"Seven okay with you?"

He began to move towards the door. "Seven's good."

He had to get going. He had some cooking to do.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

They both sat on the picnic blanket gazing up at the sky. She was dressed casually in some shorts and a shirt that went off of her shoulders, but she looked beautiful. Her hair was down and wavy, and while looking at her profile he could see her long lashes and full lips…

He had to shake his head. Since she had waken up, they had not been intimate what so ever. Not even one little kiss. He had wanted to jump her on numerous occasions, but he had to keep in mind that to her this was something new. He didn't want to move too fast.

As if she felt him staring at her, she looked over in his direction. "You're looking in the wrong direction. The stars are up there." She pointed to the sky with her finger.

He gave her a crooked grin and lay back against the blanket. His heart began to beat a bit faster when another cover appeared out of nowhere to cover them both up. She laid her head down on his chest while still keeping her eyes up above.

"Hey Remy?"

"Yeah?"

"Even though I don't remember, we have known each other for a while, right?"

He scrunched his brow in confusion. "Yeah we have. We are friends as well as lovers."

He could feel her smile against his chest. He could only imagine the blush creeping throughout her cheeks.

She rolled back over and again proceeded to watch the sky.

After a few moments of silence she spoke again. "Can I ask you something?"

He absent mindedly said "Mmmhmm." He was really trying to find this meteor shower they were supposed to be looking for. So far the only thing he saw moving up there was the occasional plane.

"Do you love me?"

That got his attention. He rolled his head over, and found that she was looking up at him with those emerald orbs of hers. He didn't have to think twice when he answered.

"Yes."

She shyly smiled. "Then kiss me already."

There were very few times in his life when he was caught off guard, and this was definitely one of them.

He almost thought he didn't hear her right, but when he looked at her he knew he heard correctly. She looked at him expectantly, and slowly closed her eyes. He needed no further encouragement and quickly rolled on top of her, cradling her face between his hands. She let out a small gasp from the quick change in position. He made sure to place most of his weight on his arms so he wouldn't hurt her. He then placed his lips on her own.

He could have sworn he saw fireworks when he closed his eyes. Or maybe it was the damn meteor shower. All that he knew was that this was one of the best moments of his life. He had missed this.

He slowly pushed his tongue towards her lips, asking for her permission to enter. She quickly obliged, and he felt her hands rubbing through his hair, attempting to bring him closer.

Her kisses became more urgent, and he felt his body respond to the contact.

He gently caressed her sides, and brought one of his hands to rest on top of her fleshy mound. He pulled her shirt off of her shoulder, and grabbed her breasts within his hands. They were plentiful, and he had almost forgot how perfect they were. He gently rolled her nipples between his fingers, and she arched her back in response to him. Her head went back, exposing her beautiful neck to him. He slowly ran his tongue up the crevice of it, and she shuddered in response. He was afraid that at any moment his manhood would bust through the seams of his pants.

He was surprised when she placed her hands on his chest and quickly rolled him over onto his back. He grabbed her thighs in his hands and brought her closer to himself. She again gasped in his mouth, and he could feel her smile slightly while they were kissing.

He separated himself from her briefly and grabbed her face within his hands. She brought her own hand up and rested it over his own. "What's wrong _Chère__?_"

She smiled down at him. "Nothing. I just think I love you too. I feel like I always have."

He lifted his head slightly to resume their kissing. He had waited a long time to hear those words from her.

He was surprised when he felt her hands begin to unzip his pants. She fumbled momentarily, but in a short amount of time she had freed him from his fabric prison. She then began to place a series of gentle kisses down his chest, and hesitated ever so slightly when she made it to her destination.

He watched her observe him, and he chuckled slightly. "What is it?"

"It's a bit big."

He laughed out loud, and one look from her was all that it took to silence him. The girl was on a mission.

She slowly put forth her tongue, and licked the tip of him. She then wrapped her mouth around him and slowly moved her way down to his base. He swore that he had never felt anything better. He moaned in response, which made her a bit bolder in her actions. She brought her hand next to her mouth and started to quicken her pace.

If she kept this up, it was going to be a very short night. He quickly adjusted himself and had her pinned beneath him in seconds. She looked confused by his movement. "Didn't you like it?"

He smiled down at her. "A little too much."

She seemed satisfied with his answer, and they resumed their kissing. He started placing his own series of kisses down her stomach, relishing every moment. He made quick work of her shorts, and soon she was naked beneath him.

He sat up and grabbed her foot, suddenly yanking her down closer to him. She gasped at the movement, and he could see the look of need in her eyes. He grabbed her leg and lifted it up, bringing her foot to his mouth. He placed soft kisses on the bottom of her foot, watching her toes curl at the sensation. He placed a kiss on the feminine curve of her instep, and slowly moved his way to her ankle. He could hear her breath quicken, and he knew she was anticipating the moment _his_ lips would find _her_ lower ones.

He kissed all the way down her leg, and grazed over the spot that she wanted him most. He then kissed her opposite inner thigh, and she let out what sounded like a growl. He found his way to her center, and pressed his hand firmly on her stomach while he began to kiss her flesh on her most sensitive spot. Her breath hitched and a moan escaped her lips. He slowly sucked her bud in his mouth, and began to move his tongue in slow sensual circles. Her taste was magnificently delicious, and he felt the need to lap up all that she was giving him. He felt her legs begin to tense, and he knew she was close. He continued his ministrations and suddenly she called out his name as she came. She attempted to squirm away from the intense sensation, but he held her thighs firmly to keep her put. She almost screamed in bliss, and she soon was having another orgasm almost immediately after the first.

He gently kissed her center a final time before he made his way back up to her mouth. She was still panting from her ecstasy, and she roughly ran her hands through his hair to bring him to her mouth. He smiled against her lips, and realized that she was just as ready as he was for the grand finale. He was already at her entrance, and he positioned himself to enter her. He looked into her eyes one final time before he pushed himself into her being.

She felt magnificent. Her warmth and tightness was about to push him over the edge. He slowly began to push in and out of her, and was pleasantly surprised when she bucked her hips up to intensify the contact. That little movement was his undoing, and he quickly began to thrust in and out of her as he grabbed on to her thighs. She cried out his name as she attempted to grab onto him to steady herself, and he could feel her slick walls flutter around him. She arched her back and he could feel her release around him. The feeling pushed him over the edge, and he released himself in her.

He rested himself on her, and he could feel her gently rubbing small circles on his back with her fingertips. Surprisingly, she was the first one to speak. "If I knew that is what I was missing, we would have done it the day I woke up."

He sat up and smiled down at her. "Oh trust me, we have a lot of making up to do."

He began to kiss her again, and they proceeded to do a lot of 'making up' that night.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The weeks that followed were fairly normal. He had basically moved Rogue into his room, and they couldn't seem to get enough of each other. Despite the fact that she still had not regained her memories, they were happy.

One night they were in the recreational room, when there was a knock at the front door. When no one jumped up to answer it, Remy begrudgingly raised himself from his comfortable position (His head was placed quite nicely on Rogue's lap). She quickly hopped up and said, "I'll get it." And made her way towards the door.

A few moments passed and she came back with a look of concern on her face. "Hey Remy? There is a woman here to see you."

His heart sank into his stomach at her words. He got up and made his way to the door, followed by Rogue. When he saw the blonde haired woman waiting for him in the foyer, his fears were confirmed.

She raised her blue eyes to his ruby ones, and smiled sarcastically. "Well hello husband! I'm here to bring you home _Cher._"

**To be Continued…**

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	23. Deja Vu

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and support everyone, you guys are awesome! I do not have too much to say, so on with the fic!**

**Chapter 23**

**Déjà vu **

He was furious. No, he was beyond furious. They were over and done, so why the hell was she showing up like this? To stir up trouble, no doubt.

"What the fuck are you doin' here?"

The woman in front of him acted like his rudeness shocked her. "Why Remy, is that any way to speak to your wife?"

He glanced back and noticed that they were drawing a bit of unwanted attention from the students. There was also the fact that Rogue stood behind him with a look on her face he couldn't quite identify. He gave her an apologetic look, and quickly turned around.

He roughly grabbed the blonde woman by her arm and dragged her to the nearest room.

Once he swung her inside, he hurriedly shut the door behind them.

She yanked her arm free from his firm grasp, and had a sardonic smile placed on her face. "If you wanted me that badly, you could of just asked me to follow you."

"Quit the bull shit Belle. Why are here? You signed the papers. It's over."

As if she was a magician, she whipped out the divorce papers from somewhere he had not noticed.

She still had the same evil sneer plastered on her face. "Oh, you mean these so called divorce papers? These are no good sweetie. They are useless."

"What the hell are you talking about? You signed them!" He threw up his arms in frustration.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And you lied to me! You never told me you were with somebody else when we signed these papers!"

He ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. "And why the fuck would that matter? We are over Belle! We have been for a long time."

As if she didn't hear him, she waltzed over to the nearest chair and sat down. She crossed her legs, and allowed her skirt to ride up her thighs, attempting to give him a little peep show of what he was missing. "We have history _Cher_, even you can't deny that. It is who we are. You are the prince of thieves, and I am the assassin's matriarch. We were destined to be together from the moment we were born. .."

She stood up then, and sauntered her way over to him. She placed her hand on his chest and leaned in towards him. "You act like it was so bad. I remember many times when you were _very_ pleased to have me as your woman…"

Remy rolled his eyes at her dramatic speech. He quickly shoved her hand away from his body. "You call what we had destiny? We were forced to date, and then we were forced to marry, which lasted a total of five minutes. When your brother attacked me.."

She quickly turned around and threw up her hand, not wanting him to continue. Despite her cold exterior she did truly love her brother. She headed over to the window, and slowly wrapped her arms around her form, as if the topic was actually making her blood run cold. "I don't want to talk about that. It was an accident."

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Yes, and no matter what I said to you, you refused to listen! Because of the whole thing I was banished from my home! Me moving on was inevitable."

She again narrowed her eyes at him. "And I was the one who allowed you back! You should be thanking me!"

He brought his voice back down to a normal level. He knew the type of woman that she was, and him yelling at her would get him nowhere. "I am thankful Belle. I will never forget our past. We did have some good times together." At those words, she suddenly turned her head to the side, and he could swear that he saw her eyes glistening at his admission.

He continued. "But we were also young and foolish. We would have killed each other. Literally. I've moved on. I love somebody else now."

She turned back to face him, and quickly regained her composure. "Well, that doesn't matter. The divorce is null and void."

He was becoming impatient with her childish behavior. "You may say that, but you know it's not true.

She smiled deviously at him. "I didn't sign my name. So these papers are not valid."

She flipped through the signatures to prove her point. She pointed at one of the lines that she had signed within the document. He looked at her exasperated. "What are you taking about? You signed every single line Bella Donna Boudreaux!"

She giggled as if what he had just said was funny. "Exactly. You forgot that we were legally married. My legal last name is LeBeau."

He didn't know if he was mad at the fact that she had actually outwitted him, or the fact that this evil woman shared his last name.

She continued on when she saw that he had no argument. "The funny thing is, you could have gotten out of it with these papers, but not any more."

He shot her a look that could kill. "What are you talking about now?"

She chuckled lightly. "We consummated our marriage, love. Recently I might add. That was part of our marital contract between the guilds. Once the marriage was consummated, it would be finalized."

He quickly became enraged. He knew he fucked up when he had slept with her for the sake of obtaining information. She had known what she was doing all along. "I had no other choice! You intentionally withheld the information I needed to find Rogue!"

He heard the door creak open behind him. He saw Bella Donna's look turn devious, and he quickly turned around.

Rogue slowly stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. Her eyes went from Belle's to his own. "Is everything okay Remy?"

His look softened when he saw her look of concern. Bella Donna made a sarcastic snort behind him. "Learn some manners you home wrecking whore! We were having a private conversation!"

Remy quickly turned back to face Belle. He stepped in front of Rogue to act as a shield. Bella Donna was a trained assassin, and a good one at that. He didn't want Rogue getting hurt because of his mess.

It was a bit worrisome when she not only stepped out from behind him, but also got too close for his comfort to Bella's face. "You know that's not what I am. We love each other. You need to move on."

Bella Donna raised her eyebrow at her. She looked past her and looked in Remy's direction while pointing a finger in Rogue's face. "This is what you want? The girl is absolutely clueless."

Rogue raised her hand and slapped the other woman's finger away from her face. "I heard a little bit of what you were talking about." She turned to Remy and gave him an apologetic look before turning her attention back to the blonde haired woman. "You tricked him. You signed the wrong name. It's a pretty desperate action if you ask me."

Bella Donna sighed as if she was bored. "He lied to me too. He didn't say he was with _you._" When she said 'you' it sounded like she was spitting venom.

"And what does that mean? You were willing to give him up as long as he was alone and miserable like you?"

Bella Donna quickly stood and got very close to her face. She hissed with distain, "I would watch what you say to me, if I were you."

Remy stepped between the two. "Belle that's enough!"

The other woman rolled her eyes. "She is pathetic! You always have to rescue her sorry ass." She then had a sudden thought pop in her head that would give her the advantage. "Did you tell her?"

Rogue still held her stance, and became worried when she detected a twitch in his face at the other woman's words.

Remy almost pleaded with the other woman. "Belle. Stop."

She laughed gleefully and circled around Rogue. "While you were missing in action, he came to my house and fucked my brains out. Our marriage is now consummated. He has an obligation to his guild and me. The sooner you realize this, the better."

Rogue was caught of guard. She looked at him in hope that he would say it was all a lie, but she became concerned when he remained silent. "Remy?"

He turned towards her and grabbed her hands within his own. "I hired her to find out where you were…she wouldn't tell me what I needed to know unless I did what she wanted."

Rogue was conflicted. She knew he had done it for her, but it still hurt. What hurt even more is that she still had no memories and she had trusted him. He never mentioned the fact that he was banging another woman while she was going through who knows what.

She needed to be alone. She refused to cry in front of the other woman. She lifted her chin defiantly before she did. "Yeah? Well at least I have a man who loves me enough that he would do anything for me. Even if that meant stooping down to your pathetic level. At least he sleeps with me willingly."

Bella Donna looked outraged, and Rogue quickly turned on her heels and left the room. She heard Remy call out after her, but she chose to ignore him all together.

She quickly rushed past the curious looks of the others in the mansion and rapidly made her way to her room. When she made it inside, she quickly shut the door behind her. She began to pace back and forth while biting at her nails.

She had trusted him! Why hadn't he told her? She fell back on her bed and rested her arm over her eyes. She felt the wetness on her cheeks, not even realizing that she had been crying. She whipped them away with the back of her hand.

She reluctantly sat up and brought her knees up to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees while she thought.

He probably would have told her eventually. Although she was mad and she hated to admit it, she could kind of understand why he didn't tell her. Sometimes he treated her as though she was breakable because of her 'condition'. He probably didn't want to overwhelm her. And it wasn't like he was out having a good time. He had done it for her…

She quickly shook her head. The image of them being intimate was enough to make her sick.

She didn't know how long she had been in her room when she heard a knock at her door. She hoped it was Remy coming to speak with her.

When she opened the door she was surprised to see Kitty standing on the other side.

Kitty gave her a small smile. "May I come in?"

She didn't feel much like company, but she moved to the side to let the smaller woman in.

Kitty looked around the room. "I feel like I haven't visited in a while."

Rogue took a seat on her bed. She knew that the other woman was here because rumors were probably flying rampant by now.

Kitty took a seat besides her. "Look, I know that you don't remember much about our friendship, but we were close. You were my best friend.." She became silent and turned her head away from her.

"Kitty, are you okay?"

She heard the other woman sniff and she turned her head back towards her. Her eyes were glistening with fresh tears that were threatening to spill over. "I just miss our friendship. I know you don't remember me, and I should be more understanding of that, but I just miss the bond we shared."

The smaller woman then sat up a bit straighter, which may have been an attempt to gain her composure. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I don't want you to think that anything is your fault. Anyway, I came here to see if you were all right. I saw Bella Donna leaving just a moment ago..."

Rogue perked up at the news. "She left already?"

Kitty had a concerned look on her face. "Yeah, but she looked too happy to be leaving Gambit behind. I heard that she was coming back for him?"

Rogue eyed her, not sure how much detail she should go into.

Kitty grabbed her hand. "I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. We used to talk to each other all the time. "

Rogue rubbed the back of her neck in a nervous manner. She felt guilty that she couldn't remember their friendship. She sighed before she spoke. "I guess all that happened was the divorce papers were no good."

She shifted uncomfortably before she continued. "That woman also helped him find out where I was when I was missing, and she made Remy…do things with her to get the information he wanted."

Kitty sat there for a moment before the news registered. "Oh…OH."

Rogue looked away from her. "I just wish he would of told me."

Kitty sat in silence for a brief moment. "We didn't know where you were. We thought you were dead. We had a burial and everything…"

Rogue quickly looked back at her. She had never heard this! The smaller woman had tears streaming down her face at this point.

Kitty continued. "Remy was the only one out of all of us who never gave up. He was desperate. So if he did it with that evil woman, I truly believe that he had no choice."

She whipped at her eyes and stood from the bed. "I just wanted you to know that."

She made her way towards the door. "If you want to talk, you know where my room is." She exited and shut the door softly behind her.

Rogue sat on her bed in a daze. She brought her hands up to her head and hit it a few times. "Remember damn you! Why don't you remember?"

She tried her tactic a few more times, and quickly became frustrated at her futile attempts. The whole damn situation was pissing her off. The other woman had a point. She was weak, and Remy seemed the one always trying to protect her. If only she had her powers! If only she could remember!

She stepped to her door to go try to find him, but stopped in the middle of her actions. She released the doorknob, and took a step back. She needed some time to think, and she didn't know how to face him just yet.

She changed into her pajamas, and lay down in her bed. She cocooned herself in her covers, secretly hoping that he would come looking for her when he didn't find her in his bed.

As the hours passed, she realized he wasn't coming for her, and she fell into a restless sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

She woke up just before the sun began to rise. She rolled over and tried to get comfortable, but her attempts were useless. She had gotten used to sharing Remy's bed. She knew that she was not going to go back to sleep, and slowly sat up and removed her covers. She swung her legs over her bed, and stretched her stiff limbs. She felt as if she didn't sleep a wink last night. She made her way to the bathroom and took care of her basic needs, and attempted to tame her wild hair. However, her hair had other plans, so she decided to throw it up in a ponytail.

She then walked over to her balcony doors and opened them to let in some fresh air. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon, and the birds were chirping happily off in the distance.

She inhaled the scent of the outdoors.

Although she had no sense of identity, she knew somehow that she had always loved the outdoors.

She rested against the railing, enjoying the sight. As she was looking off into the distance, the events from the night before came to the forefront of her mind. She knew that she would have to speak with Remy sooner or later.

Although she felt extremely anxious and angry, she knew that arguing wouldn't help anything.

Everyone had informed her that they had a rocky past, and she wanted their future to be smooth and steady.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a silent thud behind her. She almost screamed, but calmed down a little when she saw Remy smirking at her. His hair was messy like he just woke up, and he still looked so damn cute.

She didn't really know what to say, so she turned back to the rising sun.

The two took in the sight in silence, and she felt him move closer to her. He stood behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist as he rested his head on top of hers.

No words were spoken between them, but the action indicated a type of peace treaty between them. It was as if he was asking for her forgiveness, and she would oblige him.

"I have to leave _Chere._"

She steadily gazed forward. "When are you coming back?" She was dreading the answer.

When he did not reply, she already knew his response. She stepped out of his hold. "So that's it? You're just leaving me?"

He gave her a sad smile as he brushed away a tear that made its way down her cheek.

When he still remained silent, it angered her. "Things may be better off this way. It seems that I depend…depended on you too much. You would end up hurting me in the end any way."

She turned towards him with tear filled eyes. "I'm glad you're a coward. Get the fuck out of here and go be with your _wife_ and your fucked up marriage."

The words broke her heart, and she started to cry. She felt his strong arms embrace her, and she went to push him off of her. When he didn't budge, she hit him in his chest to push him away. He still didn't move, and she grabbed his shirt within her fingers and attempted to shove him off of her. His embrace became tighter, and her gripped loosened. She began to sob into his chest.

"Why are you doing this to me? I thought you loved me?"

He lifted her chin up so she could meet his gaze. His stare was wild and intense "Never doubt my love for you. "

"If you love me so much, why are you leaving me? I need you…"

He had a sense of Déjà vu. He remembered when he had left the first time, and she had said those same exact words to him. The only difference was last time he knew he was coming back, and this time he never would.

He leaned in, and the two shared a passionate kiss. He felt his own wetness in his eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers. "Je t'aimerai toujours."

He quickly released her and left. As he closed the door behind him, she felt as if a bit of her soul had left with him. Although to her the relationship was new, it seemed that everything else in her knew that he was a major part in her life.

Although she tried to hold them back, the tears sprang forward with no indication of stopping anytime soon.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Why did he always have to be such a fuck up? Why did he listen to his family when they said he had to marry this evil cunt of a woman? Why didn't he turn the other way running?

All he could think about the whole ride home was all the 'whys?'. He felt like an empty hollow shell that no longer contained a soul. He would just wither away to dust soon.

"Don't look so down my husband, things aren't that bad."

He continued to ignore the woman sitting besides him. He felt her hand travel up his thigh.

He gritted his teeth, and snatched her hand up within his own, threatening to crush every last bone. "I agreed to come back with you, and that is it. I will stay until I can convince you how fucking psychotic this is, and that's it."

He released his death grip on her hand, and she cradled it against her chest. She narrowed her eyes at him when she spoke. "Don't forget our deal _Cher._ If you even try to back out on me, I will kill your precious little Rogue."

How could he forget? The only reason he was going along with this crazy situation was for Rogue. Belle had made it very clear that if she couldn't have him, no one would. She quite plainly stated that she would kill Rogue without a second thought. The woman was clearly a sociopath.

He couldn't risk it. Bella Donna was one of the best assassins known, and he knew she would make good on her promise. He couldn't put the woman he loved through this. He could not live knowing that her death would be his fault.

As they made their way to her home, he remained silent, praying for a release from his personal hell.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The next few days were uneventful ones. Rogue tried to go on with her normal daily activities the best that she could.

While she was in the gym, the man known as Wolverine came in. She had not really spoken to him much, but people told her they had been close. She couldn't really see how. The man had barely said a few words to her since she had been 'awake'.

She moved over to a different machine, and the two worked out in silence.

As she grabbed her towel, the other man spoke up. "Never took you for the type to give up so easily."

She turned towards the gruff man, and raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

He continued to lift his weights. "Do you really need me to repeat it? I thought you lost your memories, not your hearing."

She balled her fist at her sides. "What the hell do you know?"

He leaned down and grabbed his towel, and threw it over his shoulders. "I'm not a fan of Gumbo, but I do know this; the whole time you were missing, that man never gave up. Not once. He was the whole reason we found you in the first place."

She turned to leave. "I don't need this right now."

"So the one time he needs you to rescue him, you just turn the other cheek like you don't give a shit? I know you're better than that Stripes."

She felt a tickle in her mind. She knew that his nickname was one of endearment, but how did she know that?

She was becoming confused. She rubbed her fingers in a circular motion against her temples. "And what exactly am I supposed to do? I don't have a mutation."

"I didn't release only mutants could be heroes. Must have missed that in the manual."

She remained silent and contemplated what he said. "I…I…love him. I don't know what to do."

"All you need to do is ask for help. We all are here for you."

She met his eyes with her own. "What do you suggest?"

"The day we got you off of that piece of shit island, Magneto was after that enhancement formula. He took off before the fight, which makes me think that ol' tin head might have found something."

She looked at him confused. "You mean you think he has something that can make me a mutant again?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Its not definite, but all the signs do lead in that direction."

She pondered what he had just informed her of. If this was true, she could possibly have a way to regain her powers. Her memories may be lost forever, but at least this would give her back a small sense of who she was. And she could retrieve Remy from that bitch of a woman.

A sudden thought occurred to her. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"What would have been the point? You were with Gumbo, and despite everything, for the first time since I have known you, you seemed happy."

She gave him a slight smile. "When can we pay a visit to this 'tin' head?"

He walked past her. "Follow me. We will go give Chuck a visit to see if he can tell us where Mags is hangin' around these days."

She eagerly nodded her head and followed his lead. As they made their way through the mansion, things seemed eerily quiet. They soon discovered the reason why.

In one of the rooms, a TV was giving a live broadcast on some urgent breaking news.

"_We have just confirmed reports of a hostile take over from a group known as the Hellfire Club. They claim that they have placed numerous nuclear devices throughout the country. There have also been reports of a planned forced "mutanizing" of the nation. This group claims to know how to bring forth dormant X genes within our population, although the method is unknown. We advise that everyone stay calm, and remain indoors until further notice-"_

The broadcast was interrupted by a live feed. A man appeared on the screen, with slick back hair and an evil look about him. The woman that stood next to him looked like she once may have been beautiful, but now was cold and domineering. "_Let me introduce myself. I am Sebastian Shaw. A company that you all may know, Trask enterprises, has unfortunately done a very terrible thing by betraying my fellow mutants and myself. Well, now their wrongs will be their undoing! My fellow mutants, help me destroy what little ranks they have left. Together we will destroy their attempt to exterminate the X gene. They are trying to commit genocide, and I will not have it!" _He paused briefly with a crazed look in his eye. "_I will lead this nation the way it should be lead. All of those who oppose me will parish! We will bring forth the mutant gene within every person in this nation. If you are not a carrier, you unfortunately will not be needed. I just need one last piece to my puzzle."_ He stared right into the camera, and the look alone almost made Rogue scream. "_I know you are watching my little Queen. I will find you, and you will help our cause…Rogue."_

She quickly looked at Wolverine, and he actually looked at her as if he was frightened for a moment. A searing pain shot through her head, and she could barely stand upright. The last thing she remembered was Logan carrying her. "CHUCK? JEAN?"

He looked down at the woman he considered to be family. He rushed to the med bay and laid her down. Jean came rushing in. "What happened?"

He ran his hand through his hair. "I assume you saw the news? Well, as soon as she saw Shaw she started screaming and fell over."

Jean quickly began to prepare an IV. "Logan, go get the professor—" She stopped short when she felt Rogue's hand rest on her own.

"Rogue?"

She blinked a few times, and abruptly sat up. "We have to find Magneto. It's the only solution." Jean didn't know why, but of course Logan did. "You need to rest, you had me worried for a moment—"

She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and began to cry. He awkwardly rubbed his hand against her back. "We will figure things out—"

She released her hold and held his gaze. She sobbed a few more times before saying, "Logan, I remember everything."

**To be continued…**

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